





>/ <i.'^ ^^ 








cp^.'j^i'.\ /.c:^.\ /.-^i-A -'* 









'^ov^ :£M^^^ '^^S oV^'^^Pi'- •^^^-^' 











4 O 












,0 'V 












.♦^-"^ 




V^^' 

.c,^^^. 











o > 







■4^_ '" ^'^^ '*>,''""' a"^ 




4 O 



.^^\ 











/ .^ 








'"^ /.vji^-.v .c<'^.^^^'>o ./.v:^.\ 



"^5* A, 

• • » * » 








.'•^% "^ 




















AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY 



To the Death of Lincoln 



POPULARLY TOLD 



BY 



VIOLA A. CONKLIN 




NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1901 



t- 






THF l-iBRARY OF 
OC "JGRESS, 

Two CuHltS H&CEIVRD 

NOV. 13 1901 

COPVRIOHT ENTRY 

CLASS CK. XXa No. 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1901, 

BY 

HENRY HOLT .% CO. 



To the Memory 

OF MY FATHER 

GEORGE PECKHAM 



PREFACE 



The American people have recently awakened to the 
fact that they have a past of peculiar interest. United 
States' History has been declared " dry and stupid and 
nothing but dates," but it is now realized that these dates 
are important landmarks in the world's progress. All 
can recall their enjoyment in the study of other lands — of 
India with its Oriental charm and stirring tales of Eng- 
lish valor; of Greece, the home of art and beauty, the 
abode of gods who so charmingly personified mortal 
passions ; of Imperial Rome crowning the seven hills with 
her majestic temples and palaces, and civilizing western 
Europe ; of Italy in the Renaissance ; of France under 
the great Louis and the greater Napoleon; and of Eng- 
land through long years building, stone by stone, the 
firm foundations of constitutional monarchy. To an 
imagination fired by these glowing pictures, the back- 
woodsman in his log-cabin, the Indian fierce and re- 
pulsive, the stern Puritan who robbed life of grace and 
beauty, seemed in comparison very commonplace. But 
history is no longer a mere record of wars and court 
intrigues ; from the scenic splendor of the pact have 
emerged the forgotten people; in the light of evolution 
we realize the working out of great principles, and his- 
tory is no more a glittering pageant, but the irresistible 
upward movement of mankind. Thus viewed, the history 
of the United States becomes of deepest interest; for 
this young nation, freed from the trammels of the past, 



vi PREFACE 

has been striving to solve those great problems which 
make for the advancement of the race. Perchance we 
are inclined to smile at that gigantic bronze figure with 
the uplifted torch, but nevertheless it represents our 
national idea — Liberty Enlightening the World. 

Every book, it has been said, should have a preface 
wherein is offered an apology for presenting another 
literary venture. The excuse for this volume is the 
newly awakened interest in our country's past. It owes 
its origin to a course of parlor lectures which resulted 
from the remark of a cultured woman who entered 
actively into the opportunities of her New York life. 
" I have attended," she declared, " parlor classes for the 
study of the great men, the historical epochs, the music, 
the art, the literature, and even the drama of nearly 
every land of Europe, but remain lamentably ignorant 
of the history of my own country. Write a course of 
lectures upon the political history of the United States 
and I promise to form a class of women all as ill-in- 
formed as I am, and equally anxious to learn." It was 
an appeal that demanded compliance, and the interest 
aroused by the lectures suggested a fuller treatment of 
the subject in a more permanent form. 

The thanks of the author are due to Professor E. G. 
Bourne, of Yale University, for some suggestions made 
after reading the manuscript. The book is sent forth in 
the hope that it will meet the demand for a concise ac- 
count of our political history, and that it may prove of 
value to the man who votes, and to the woman who 
often influences the voter. 

Plainfield, New Jersey, 
September, 1901. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 
The Old Dominion 

The town-meeting — isolation of the colonies — contrast pre- 
sented by Virginia and Massachusetts — first representative as- 
sembly convened in America — ballot granted to every freeman 

— social conditions — tyrannical measures of Governor Berkeley 

— Charles II. bestows the colony upon two of his favorites — 
Bacon's Rebellion — Berkeley's recall — the English Navigation 
Laws I 

CHAPTER H 

The New England Theocracy 

The New England Theocracy — the school and the town- 
meeting — restricted suffrage — influence of Puritanism — "The 
United Colonies of New England " — Thomas Hooker founds 
Hartford — Connecticut adopts the first American constitution — 
New Haven — Roger Williams and the charter of Rhode Island 

— the right of taxation secured to the people — John Winthrop — 
Boston, not London, the seat of government — Charles II. attempts 
to subdue the independent colony — charter of Massachusetts 
annulled — tyrannical measures of Governor Andros — new char- 
ter granted by William and Mary 12 

CHAPTER HI 

Beginning of the Struggle for Constitutional Liberty 

England's colonies involved in her continental wars — the ad- 
vance of constitutional liberty in England and America — Mas- 
sachusett's refusal to pay the royal governor a fixed salary — 
the Albany Plan — Writs of Assistance — Declaratory Resolves 



viii CONTENTS 

— indignation in America — Samuel Adams — action of the 
Boston town-meeting — passage of the Stamp Act — speech of 
Isaac Barre — Patrick Henry in the House of Burgesses — an 
American Congress meets at New York — resistance to the 
Stamp Act — the American question debated in Parliament — 
speeches of William Pitt, George Grenville and Lord Mans- 
field — repeal of the Stamp Act 23 

CHAPTER IV 

A United Resistance 

The American position as stated by Lecky — Townshend Rev- 
enue Act — Macaulay's account of the " King's friends " — non- 
importation societies — Farmer's Letters — the circular letter — 
colonial assemblies dissolved — seizure of the sloop Liberty — 
the great town-meeting — arrival of English troops at Boston — 
town refuses them quarters — proscription of importers — letters 
of Vindex — Boston Massacre — " Sam Adams' Regiments " — 
repeal of Townshend taxes except that on tea — breaking the 
non-importation act — destruction of the Gaspee — Committee of 
Correspondence — destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor — 
five retaliatory measures adopted by Parliament — speeches of 
Edmund Burke and Lord Chatham — Gage made governor of 
Massachusetts » 43 

CHAPTER V 

A Continental Question 

The Continental question — Boston Port Bill — donations and 
letters to the Donation Committee — Regulating Act — Manda- 
mus Counsellors — Provincial Congress of Massachusetts — Com- 
mittee of Safety — Minute-men — address by Dr. Joseph Warren 

— conditions in New York and Pennsylvania — Samuel Adams 
carries through the election of delegates to the Continental Con- 
gress — Measures of this Congress — Suffolk Resolves — " The 
Association of the United Colonies " — Chatham's praise of the 
papers presented by the Continental Congress — the Bill of 
Rights — speeches by Lord Chatham and Edmund Burke — 
orders to arrest Adams and Hancock and send them to England 
for trial — Benjamin Franklin — all hope of peace at an end . 68 



CONTENTS IX 

CHAPTER VI 
The Revolution 

Battle of Lexington — the Great Virginian — Second Conti- 
nental Congress — an address to the king — war measures in 
both countries — the American flag — Thomas Paine's pamphlet 
" Common Sense " — address of the Boston town-meeting — 
motion in Congress for independence — committee appointed to 
draft a declaration — Dickinson's speech — motion carried and 
Declaration of Independence adopted — sentiments of the people 

— Plan of Confederation — the political situation — Lafayette's 
opinion of the American troops — French Alliance — English 
Commissioners to America — efforts to end the war — death of 
Lord Chatham — the King and Lord North receive the news 
from Yorktown — renewed efforts for peace — Treaty of Peace. 

85 
CHAPTER VII 

The Confederation 

The " Critical Period " — Refugees — Society of the Cincin- 
nati — North- West Territory — Ordinance of 1787 — State of 
Franklin — Weakness of the Confederation — Newburgh Letter 

— Washington's circular letter — Washington retires to Mount 
Vernon — efforts to negotiate Treaties of Commerce — John 
Adams at the English Court — religious liberty assured — Yankee 
invention — the Treasury Department — Robert Morris — variable 
and debased coinage — national currency — condition of the 
country — States adopt tariff duties — George Clinton — Fiat 
money — Shays's Rebellion — Constitutional Convention called. 

107 

CHAPTER Vni 

The Constitution and the First Election 

Framing of the Constitution — its adoption by the States — 
Amendments — the "Federalist" — launching the Ship of State 

— acts of Congress — the Republican Court — Washington's visit 
to Boston — John Jay — Alexander Hamilton — Hamilton's Re- 
ports — funding and assumption — States admitted — excise — 
Whiskey Insurrection — Bank of the United States — mint es- 



3t CONTENTS 

tablished — Tammany Society receives a delegation of Creek 
Indians — Indian war in the North-West — rise of the Repub- 
lican Party — Philip Freneau — Hamilton's measures attacked — 
Fugitive Slave Law 133 

CHAPTER IX 
Presidency of George Washington 

Washington's second term — foreign relations — wild enthu- 
siasm for the French Republic — American neutrality — the Genet 
affair — Jay Treaty — Congress affronts Washington — attempts 
to defeat the execution of the treaty — Fisher Ames' great speech 

— Jay elected governor of New York — newspapers abuse Wash- 
ington — Washington's Farewell Address 162 

CHAPTER X 

Presidency of John Adams 

John Adams President — Monroe recalled from France — 
America and France on the verge of war — X. Y. Z. dispatches 

— Alien and Sedition Acts — Nullification — Fries' Rebellion — 
Washington appointed Commander-in-chief of the army — war 
prevented — origin of Spoliation claims — death of Washington 

— election of President passes to the House of Representatives — 
Burr's intrigues — Adams and the Federalists — John Marshall 

— makers of the nation 174 

CHAPTER XI 

Presidency of Thomas Jefferson 

Thomas Jefferson President — retrenchment — remo\'aIs from 
office — the President's cabinet — Ohio admitted — West-Point 
established — twelfth amendment adopted — purchase of Louisiana 

— war with the Barbary States — Burr-Hamilton duel — Jeffer- 
son's reelection — effect of the European war upon the United 
States — seizure and impressment — the " Mosquito Fleet " — 
Chesapeake fired upon by the Leopard — Embargo — Enforcing 
Act — repeal — Burr tried for treason — act to prevent the im- 
portation of slaves — John Randolph and the " Quids " . . 187 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER XII 

Presidency of James Madison 

James Madison President — Albert Gallatin — America further 
embroiled with England — Macon's Bill No. 2 — Napoleon's 
clever interpretation of the bill — United States Bank refused a 
renewal of its charter — the "previous question" — the "War- 
Hawks " — Henry Clay — preparations for war — Madison's 
second term — Ninety days embargo — War of 1812 — Treaty of 
Ghent — Hartford Convention — Congress charters another Bank 
of the United States — Louisiana admitted 206 

CHAPTER XIII 

Presidency of James Monroe 

James Monroe President — Era of Good Feeling — EH Whit- 
ney — the Cotton-gin — admission of Maine and Missouri — con- 
test in Congress — Missouri Compromise — Monroe doctrine — 
John Quincy Adams Secretary of State — Seminole War — Flor- 
ida purchased from Spain — Adams and the British Minister — 
Clay's " American System " — the National Road — John C. Cal- 
houn — bitterness of the presidential campaign — election of a 
President passes to the House of Representatives .... 220 

CHAPTER XIV 

Presidency of John Quincy Adams 

John Quincy Adams President — his diary — the Jackson fac- 
tion — Clay Secretary of State — "bargain and corruption" charge 
— death of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — Webster's 
address at the memorial services — Webster and his message to 
his countrymen — Adams averse to removals from office — New 
York's political machine — Clay-Randolph duel — National Re- 
publicans and Democrats 238 

CHAPTER XV 

Presidency of Andrew Jackson 

Andrew Jackson President — changes in the civil service — the 
" Kitchen Cabinet " — a cabinet officer's wife causes serious com- 



xii CONTENTS 

plications — the " Tariff of Abominations " — state rights refuted 

— South Carolina and Nullification — Webster's reply to Hayne 

— tariff of 1832 — South Carolina passes nullification ordinance 

— President acts promptly — Clay's Compromise Bill — Jackson 
and the United States Bank — Jackson's veto of the bank charter 
• — Anti-Masonic Party — Jackson reelected — removal of the 
bank deposits — ruin of the bank — abolition crusade — William 
Lloyd Garrison — Wendell Phillips — petitions for the abolition 
of slavery in the District of Columbia — John Quincy Adams' 
great fight for the right of petition — death of John Quincy 
Adams — Texas becomes independent — rise of the " Whigs " — 
the "Loco Focos" — the question of expunging .... 251 



CHAPTER XVI 

Presidencies of Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison 
AND John Tyler 

From Jackson to Lincoln — Martin Van Buren — panic of 
1837 — Independent or Sub-Treasury — the Whig campaign — 
Harrison's inauguration — his death — Tyler becomes President 

— Sub-Treasury Law repealed — efforts to establish a national 
bank — Treaty of Washington — new tariff bills — advance of 
abolition movement — excitement over the return of fugitive 
slaves — case of George Latimer — effort to annex Texas — pop- 
ularity of Clay — the Raleigh Letter — Native American Party 

— Freesoil Party — the Alabama Letters — grief at Clay's defeat 

— Texas admitted as a state 283 

CHAPTER XVn 

Presidency of James K. Polk 

James K. Polk inaugurated — tariff bill of 1846 — Sub-Treas- 
ury reestablished — Naval Academy founded — Department of 
Interior created — the north-west boundary — " 54-40 or fight " 

— efforts to purchase California — the Mexican War — Treaty 
of Guadalupe Hidalgo — contest in Congress — Wilmot Proviso 

— government for Oregon Territory 296 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER XVIII 

Presidency of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore 

Zachary Taylor inaugurated — question of slavery in Cali- 
fornia — gold discovered in that state — state constitution 
adopted — excitement in Congress over the admission of Cali- 
fornia — Compromise of 1850 — speeches of Clay, Calhoun, Web- 
ster and William H. Seward — the North indignant with Webster 

— Clayton-Bulwer Treaty — death of the President — Fillmore 
succeeds him — Compromise Bill passed — the fugitive slave law 

— arguments advanced by the friends and the opponents of sla- 
very — complexity of the question — " Uncle Tom's Cabin " — 
death of Daniel Webster 303 

CHAPTER XIX 

Presidency of Franklin Pierce 

Franklin Pierce inaugurated — Stephen A. Douglas — Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill — " Squatter Sovereignty " — repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise — speeches of William H. Seward, Edward 
Everett, Salmon P. Chase and Charles Sumner — excitement 
throughout the country — Douglas carries through his bill — ex- 
citement in Boston over Anthony Burns — personal liberty bills 

— expansionists desire Cuba — rise of the Republican Party — 
the Underground Railroad — Massachusetts Emigrant Aid So- 
ciety — the Kansas Conflict — "The Crime Against Kansas" — 
Sumner assaulted by Brooks — " Know-Nothings " — "A Geo- 
graphical Campaign " 319 

CHAPTER XX 

Presidency of James Buchanan 

Review of the political situation — Dred Scott decision — 
Buchanan's Cabinet — Abraham Lincoln's reply to Douglas — 
panic of 1857 — efforts to obtain possession of Cuba — South 
desired an increase of negroes — struggle over the Lecompton 
Constitution in and out of Congress — Lecompton Jr. — efforts 
of Kansas to gain admission to the Union — Abraham Lincoln 



xiv CONTENTS 

— Lincoln-Douglas Debates — the " irrepressible conflict " — John 
Brown — attack on Harper's Ferry — Brown's trial and execu- 
tion — treasonable utterances in Congress — Lincoln's Cooper 
Union Speech — National Conventions nominate presidential 
candidates — Wide-Awake Clubs — Abraham Lincoln elected — 
South Carolina secedes — Confederate States of America — Two 
speeches by Alexander H. Stephens — weakness of the President 

— Crittenden Compromise — Thirteenth Amendment — efforts to 
relieve Fort Sumter — reorganization of the Cabinet — public 
opinion North and South — Lincoln's plea for peace in his in- 
augural address 335 

CHAPTER XXI 

Presidency of Abraham Lincoln 

Lincoln's policy — the Cabinet — relief of Sumter — Southern 
Commissioners in Washington — Charleston prepares for resist- 
ance — bombardment of Sumter — surrender of the fort — the 
North aroused — President calls for troops — extra session of 
Congress — Lincoln denies the right of a State to secede — the 
right of Revolution — conditions North and South — immense 
armies in the field — financial measures — loan bill — Legal 
Tender Act — enormous expenditures — fractional currency — 
fluctuation of gold — depreciation of the greenback — Legal 
Tender Act unconstitutional — national banking act — efforts to 
retain the Border States in the Union — suspension of the writ 
of Habeas Corpus — " war powers " of the President — dissatis- 
faction of extremists — Confiscation Act — southern sequestra- 
tion act — " Contrabands " — Fremont in Missouri — Congress 
prohibits slavery in the territories and District of Columbia — 
efforts to induce loyal slave States to emancipate — General Hun- 
ter's order — Emancipation Proclamation — thirteenth amend- 
ment — colored troops 375 

CHAPTER XXn 

Presidency of Abraham Lincoln 

The struggle between North and South as viewed by Europe 

— England's friendliness toward the South — Charles Francis 



CONTENTS XV 

Adams — speech of John Bright — cotton famine — the " bubble 
of Democracy" — affair of the "Trent" — building of Confederate 
Privateers in English ship-yards — the " Alabama " — the Geneva 
Award — election of 1862 — "copperheads" — conscription act — 
draft riot in New York — turning of the tide — cabinet changes 
— reconstruction — Proclamation of Amnesty — Amnesty Bill 
vetoed by the President — presidential nominations — peace mis- 
sions — Lincoln's second inaugural address — last scenes of the 
war — letter of James Russell Lowell — assassination of the Pres- 
ident — greatness of Abraham Lincoln — a message to the Amer- 
ican people 398 



CHAPTER I 
THE OLD DOMINION 

The government of the United States is the most 
perfect form of a Federal RepubHc that the world has 
ever known. It was not a special creation. It is an 
outgrowth of those great principles of self-government 
and representative government which the Anglo-Saxon 
received as a priceless legacy from the tungemot and 
shire-motes of his Teutonic ancestry, and which have 
made the English-speaking race the standard-bearer of 
constitutional liberty throughout the world. 

The key-note of the political system of the United 
States is the town-meeting, an institution seen in per- 
fection only in New England, although some form of 
the town-meeting principle is the basis of every state 
government and underlies the whole political life of 
the nation. Thomas Jefferson said : " Those wards 
called townships in New England have proved them- 
selves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of 
man for the perfect exercise of self-government and for 
its preservation." That this impress was given to her 
political life was owing, to a great extent, to the supe- 
rior character and intelligence of the early settlers of 
New England. They divided the land into towns, or 
districts, within which limit they adapted the principles 
of the old English town government to the needs of a 
new country and changed conditions. The people of 



2 THE OLD DOMINION 

each town directly govern themselves. At least once 
each year is held a town-meeting, at which every man 
in the town, twenty-one years of age and upward, is 
expected to be present, to vote, and, if he so desire, to 
take part in the discussion. At this meeting all local 
affairs are passed in review, appropriations of money 
are made, taxes determined and officers appointed to 
conduct the business of the town for the coming year. 
As population increases there are, necessarily, many 
changes in this plan. In cities the primary is but a 
town-meeting in miniature. Delegates are there elected 
to attend City, County or State Conventions, at which 
larger meetings the candidates for City, County or State 
offices are nominated to be voted for by the people at 
large. Thus the democratic principle is retained and the 
people are kept in direct contact with government. We 
can readily understand Mr. Fiske when he declares : 
" That without the town-meeting, or its equivalent in 
some form or other, the Federal Union would be con- 
verted into a centralizing imperial government." As it is 
there are forty-five independent States, each with a per- 
fectly organized democratic government, working in per- 
fect harmony within the bonds of the Federal Republic, 
and so united forming a great and powerful nation. But 
this feeling of nationality was of slow growth. Previous 
to the Revolution it did not exist, for long after it was a 
weak sentiment, but finally the hammer-strokes of the 
Civil War welded the States into a nation. That this 
should have been the case was natural, for the thirteen 
colonies were politically independent of each other, and 
further separated by natural barriers and differences of 
religious opinion, so important a factor in those days. 
The New England Puritans had nothing in common 
with the Quakers of Pennsylvania, the Catholics of 



THE COLONISTS 3 

Maryland, or the Episcopalians of Virginia; while the 
Dutch of New York, with smaller settlements of Swedes, 
Germans and French Huguenots, added other elements 
of contrast. Furthermore, as all the colonies had free 
access to the sea, they were commercially independent 
of each other, and as there were no bridges over the 
great rivers and few roads through the vast forests, com- 
munication was difficult and often dangerous. But the 
majority of the colonists were of the English race who 
had received, as has been said, the principles of constitu- 
tional liberty as a birthright, and when these rights were 
attacked by the British government, colonies so dissimi- 
lar as Massachusetts and Virginia joined in resistance. 
It is in these two, the largest, wealthiest, and most influ- 
ential divisions of England's possessions in the new 
world, that we must study in detail the preliminaries of 
the American Revolution. 

In order to understand fully the principles for which 
the Americans contended in that long struggle, we must 
briefly review the earlier colonial period, consider the 
conditions under which the colonies were established, 
and note the influence of their peculiar environment. 
We shall find that in the perfect freedom of their new 
life, widely removed from king and parliament, the 
church and courts of law, liberty of thought and action 
grew apace. Men became imbued with an independence 
and self-reliance, which enabled them to successfully 
withstand the perils and hardships they encountered in 
the wilderness, but which did not conduce to a humble 
and obedient frame of mind towards those who, by the 
laws of the realm, were placed in authority over them. 

Virginia and Massachusetts, alike in a population 
more purely English than was to be found in the other 
colonies, present a striking contrast in social conditions, 



4 THE OLD DOMINION [1619 

The Virginian upon his vast estate, so far as circum- 
stances permitted, patterned his mode of Hfe after that 
of the landed gentry of England, and he is a picturesque 
and charming figure. He ruled a little kingdom of his 
own, for of necessity many industries were conducted 
under his direction to supply the needs of his numerous 
dependents. He was a man of affairs and of many social 
graces, having, probably, been educated abroad, and thus 
seen something of the great world. These conditions 
produced men of fine executive ability, destined to be 
distinguished in the public service as were Washington, 
Jefferson, Henry, Madison and Marshall, but the com- 
mon people were inferior, among them being many in- 
dentured servants and transported convicts. The early 
introduction of slave labor (1619) brought its own pun- 
ishment, for servile labor debases free labor; as negro 
slavery increased, the poor white inevitably sank in the 
social scale. Owing to the large plantations the popula- 
tion was scattered^ and as there were few villages, a 
common-school system of education became impossible. 
The prevailing ignorance, the conditions of labor, and the 
large number of undesirable emigrants, resulted in form- 
ing a class which later became known as " white trash." 
We shall find in Virginia the independent planters in 
the House of Burgesses defending their rights and privi- 
leges against English agression, but as we shall see, in 
New England it was the people, the men trained in the 
district-school and the town-meeting, who stood beside 
their leaders boldly resisting oppression. 

The colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts were es- 
tablished by London Stock Companies under royal char- 
ters. It is not necessary to enter into details regarding 
these charters, except in those points which established a 
precedent for future political procedure, or which called 



i62i] HOUSE OF BURGESSES 5 

forth resistance to established authority and thus fore- 
shadowed the future struggle for complete independ- 
ence. 

The first representative assembly convened in Amer- 
ica met at Jamestown, Virginia, July 30, 1619. This 
privilege of self-government was secured by the efforts 
of a few broad-minded men in the London Company, who 
sincerely desired to further the interests of the discon- 
tented colonists, then demanding a voice in the manage- 
ment of their own affairs. Twenty-two representatives 
were elected, and with the governor and his council, 
formed the House of Burgesses. In 1680 the representa- 
tives withdrew from the governor and council and 
thereafter the assembly consisted of two houses, as in 
the legislatures of the present day. At an early date in 
each colony arose a representative assembly the " Com- 
mons of America." At first the commons met with the 
governor and his council, but after a time, these assem- 
blies were in almost all cases divided, the governor and 
his council forming one house, the representatives 
elected by the people the other. 

The House of Burgesses had ample authority to legis- 
late for the colony, but their acts became valid only when 
approved by the Company ; as an offset to this check, no 
measure affecting the colony adopted by the Company 
could become law, until sanctioned by the House of 
Burgesses. In 1621 these provisions of the London 
Company were confirmed by a new charter which, in 
addition, secured to Virginia the procedure of the Eng- 
lish Judiciary. " The system of representative govern- 
ment and trial by jury," says Bancroft, " thus became 
in the new hemisphere an acknowledged right. On this 
ordinance Virginia erected the superstructure of her 
liberties. Its influences were wide and enduring. . . It 



6 THE OLD DOMINION [1624 

constituted the plantation, in its infancy, a nursery of 
freeman." 

When the charter of the London Company was an- 
nulled (June 16, 1624) the ruin of the Company did not 
involve Virginia, for self-government had gained a firm 
foothold and its representative assembly was prepared 
to protect the rights of the colonists. In all the colonies 
there was constant friction during the entire colonial 
period, between the royal governors and the representa- 
tive assemblies, but these contentions educated the peo- 
ple upon political questions. Virginia bore her share of 
these troubles, but, on the whole, until the restoration, 
enjoyed a fair measure of liberty to which the disturbed 
state of English politics largely contributed. 

In 1656 the House of Burgesses granted the ballot to 
every freeman, declaring it to be " unagreeable to rea- 
son, that any person shall pay equal taxes, and yet have 
no vote in elections." This was the first attempt in 
America to establish universal suffrage. 

The colony was very prosperous, the wealth of the 
planters increased, the great crops of tobacco being an 
unfailing source of revenue, although subject to extreme 
fluctuations. Following the execution of Charles I., in 
1649, there was a large accession of cavaliers who formed 
an important addition to the aristocracy of the province. 
The Virginian, unlike the New England Puritan, enter- 
tained no lurking bitterness against the mother-country, 
a legacy from the religious persecutions of an earlier 
day; he had left the old home to better his condition, 
and even convicts and indentured servants sent to the 
colony found their hard lot ameliorated. The planter 
was generally a royalist and a good churchman. By the 
closeness of trade relations he kept in touch with the 
England of his day. As the country abounded in rivers, 



1 670] POLITICAL CONDITIONS 7 

ships, in most cases, took his tobacco from his own dock 
and also landed there the merchandise sent out to his 
order by his London agent. Virginia, with its Anglican 
church, its great estates held intact by laws of primo- 
geniture and entail, its fox-hunting squires dispensing a 
wide hospitality, its horse-races and other out-door 
sports, was more representative of English social life 
than any American colony. 

It was an environment favorable to the growth of an 
aristocracy, and the House of Burgesses elected after the 
accession of Charles IL, was largely composed of the 
landed gentry. Under the lead of Sir William Berkeley, 
the royal governor, they remained in authority for fifteen 
years (1661-1676). This was accomplished by the clever 
device of adjourning from year to year, Berkeley, mean- 
while, refusing to issue the necessary writs for the bi- 
ennial elections. This body effected striking political 
changes. Stringent laws were passed to secure con- 
formity to the established church ; teachers were required 
to be of the Episcopal faith, and marriages must be sol- 
emnized by the ritual of the prayer-book. All persons 
were taxed for the support of the church, and in each 
parish twelve vestry-men acted as assessors. They were 
now given power to fill all vacancies in their number, 
and they thus became a close corporation, over which 
the parish lost all control. In 1670 the suffrage was re- 
stricted, it being enacted that " none but freeholders and 
housekeepers shall hereafter have a voice in the election 
of any burgesses " ; a large body of colonists were thus 
deprived of their liberties by the act of their representa- 
tives. Political power had passed into the hands of a 
dominant class, the people were burdened by heavy taxes 
and suffering from abuses they were powerless to rem- 
edy; but in this new world, liberty was felt to be a 



S THE OLD DOMINION [1676 

natural right, and their discontent found voice in that 
uprising known as Bacon's Rebellion, True, other causes 
served to inflame the people ; a constant source of com- 
plaint was the severity of the English Navigation Laws : 
moreover the king, who had been so joyously proclaimed 
on his accession, had angered and estranged the once 
loyal colonists. Careless of their welfare, he appointed 
worthless courtiers to positions of trust in the colony 
and in 1673 bestowed the so-called " kingdom of Vir- 
ginia " upon two of his favorites. Lord Culpepper and 
the Earl of Arlington, for the term of thirty-one years, 
placing the administration of the colony in the hands of 
the new proprietors.^ It needed but a spark to kindle 
rebellion, and this was supplied by an Indian outbreak 
(1676), which Berkeley failed to suppress. The man 
for the hour was not wanting, and Nathaniel Bacon 
stepped forth, not only to lead the people against their 
savage foes, but to attempt the redress of grievances and 
the recovery of their lost liberties. 

Nathaniel Bacon was a young man of birth, culture, 
and furtune, who had been in Virginia less than two 
years, but who felt a generous sympathy for the op- 
pressed colonists. He died within six months after tak- 
ing command of the little band of malcontents, but not 
before he had conquered the savages and turned his at- 
tention to the government. The rebellion collapsed at the 
death of its leader, and Berkeley proceeded to hang the 
chief rebels. His severity angered the king who ex- 

1 Lord Culpepper subsequently bought out the Earl of Arlington. 
Culpepper was a most unpopular governor, and the king removed him 
in 1684, after four years of misrule. The king confirmed Culpepper's 
title to a previous land grant in Virginia, known as the Northern 
Neck, and he further received, for relinquishing all claims to Virginia, 
an annual sum of £600 for thirty years. 



i677] SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY 9 

claimed : — " As I live, the old fool has put to death 
more people in that naked country than I did here for 
the murder of my father." The king recalled him, and 
bonfires and salutes of cannon testified to the joy with 
which the Virginians witnessed the departure of the 
rapacious, cruel, and tyrannical old man, who, for many 
years had ruled over them. One result of the rebellion 
had been the dissolution of the " Long Assembly," and 
the king now issued fresh instructions for the administra- 
tion of the colony. Every aristocratic feature of the gov- 
ernment was retained. The suffrage continued restricted 
to freeholders ; the self -perpetuating vestries were un- 
changed; the House of Burgesses was to be convened 
once in two years, and to sit but fourteen days, unless 
for special reasons. Henceforth there was continual 
wrangling between the Royal governors and the House 
of Burgesses, with the result of intensifying the inde- 
pendent spirit of the members. The Burgesses always 
resisted any attempted infringement of one of the earli- 
est statutes (1624) passed by that body — "The gov- 
ernors shall not lay any taxes or imposition upon the 
colony, their lands or commodities, otherway than by the 
authority of the general assembly, to be levied and em- 
ployed as the said assembly shall appoint." In Virginia, 
as in New England, the control of taxation was recog- 
nized as a right to be zealously guarded. 

Those parliamentary statutes known as the English 
Navigation Laws constantly aroused ill-feeling toward 
the mother-country. They bore very heavily upon Vir- 
ginia, for the colony was dependent upon her one staple 
— tobacco, which was not only a commodity, but the 
currency of the country, circulating as specie. With no 
manufactures and no ship-building, Virginia was unable 
to retaliate upon the rapacious British merchants, who 



lO THE OLD DOMINION [1651 

upheld the most stringent commercial laws. The reply 
of Sir Edward Seymour to Rev. James Blair expressed 
the popular opinion of the day. Blair was endeavoring 
to raise money in London to found the college of William 
and Mary in Virginia. He stated that the college would 
educate young men for the church and advanced the plea 
that there were souls to save in Virginia, as well as in 
England. " Souls ! damn your souls ! Grow tobacco ! " 
exclaimed the Commissioner of the Treasury. 

England, ambitious to become a great commercial 
power, looked with a jealous eye upon the little state of 
Holland, her rival in trade, and the first navigation act, 
passed in 1651, was an attempt to cripple the Dutch car- 
rying trade. By this ordinance, goods could only be 
imported into England in English ships or the ships of 
those nations that produced the goods. Upon the acces- 
sion of Charles H. a new act was passed, which not only 
protected the shippers but the English merchants as well, 
by securing to the latter a monopoly of the colonial trade. 
It was enacted that " no goods or commodities whatso- 
ever " should be imported into or exported from any of 
the king's colonies, save in English or colonial vessels, 
navigated by Englishmen, under penalty of forfeiture 
of ships and goods. The colonial ports were thus closed 
to all foreign vessels. It was further declared that sugar, 
tobacco, ginger, indigo, cotton, fustic and other dyeing 
woods, should not be exported to any places other than 
those belonging to the crown of England, under penalty 
of a like forfeiture. As new industries grew up in Amer- 
ica they were added to this list. In 1663 a new act pro- 
hibited the importation of European goods into the colo- 
nies except in English ships sailing from England. The 
Americans were thus compelled to purchase all that they 
desired from the merchants of England, whether the 



1663] ENGLISH NAVIGATION LAWS n 

goods were of British or of foreign production ; to these 
same tradesmen they must dispose of their own com- 
modities, in a market where they had no means of 
retahating though forced to sell at the lowest rates and 
buy at the highest. Parliament continued to pass these 
unjust measures until in all there were twenty-nine en- 
actments. This unwise policy was a leading cause of 
the American Revolution. England monopolized her own 
colonial trade and her merchants throve at the expense 
of the American producers. But owing to the natural 
wealth of a new country and the vigor of the English 
race, the colonists prospered, notwithstanding the re- 
strictions by which their commerce was hampered. 



CHAPTER II 

THE NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY 

When we turn from Virginia to New England we are 
impressed by the striking contrast presented by these 
two colonies, peopled by the same race. The Puritan 
faith was hard and narrow, but it possessed a concen- 
tration of purpose, an intensity of conviction, a realiza- 
tion of the value of the human soul and its accountability 
to God, that have made Puritanism the greatest political 
force in modern history. The Puritan's burning zeal, 
repressed beneath a cold exterior, found vent in fight- 
ing for the advancement of the kingdom of God in the 
world about him. The Puritans of New England had 
no intention of establishing religious liberty in the New 
World; they viewed all laxness of doctrine with horror. 
They desired to establish a theocracy, a government 
founded upon the word of God as attested by the old 
Jewish dispensation. Meekness and loving charity as set 
forth in the New Testament did not appeal to those 
rugged natures; but, strangely enough, this militant 
Christianity made possible the religious freedom of the 
present day. The New England theocracy is unique in 
the history of governments. It united church and state 
in a close political bond, for suffrage was restricted to 
those in full church-membership, and this could only 
be obtained by passing a rigid examination in religious 



1636] PUBLIC EDUCATION 13 

tenets.^ It did not, however, create a church establish- 
ment, as all the New England churches were congrega- 
tional, each managing its own affairs with perfect inde- 
pendence. The ministers were paid by the towns; they 
could hold no political office, but such was the respect 
entertained for their vocation and high character that 
the Puritan divines always possessed great influence in 
public affairs. 

As the Puritan must search the Scriptures for daily 
guidance, he must be able to read the sacred word un- 
derstandingly, and so he established the school-house, in 
company with the church, in every hamlet. In 1636, 
six years after the settlement of Boston, the colony of 
Massachusetts Bay founded Harvard College, voting the 
money for that purpose from their own poor treasury. 
Eleven years later (1647) they established by law a com- 
mon school system throughout the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. It was ordered that every town, " after 
the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty 
householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within 
the town to teach all such children as shall resort to 
them to write and read " . . . " when any town shall 
increase to the number of one hundred families they 
shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being 
able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for 
the University." That " political training school," the 
town-meeting, by which was instituted a perfect form of 
democratic government, has already been described. 

As the basis of society was the church congregation, 
the conditions were favorable to the growth of towns, 
and villages with outlying farms. The rugged soil 
obliged all men to labor, and there being no great staple, 

1 There were exceptions, notably at Hartford and Providence 
where suffrage was never restricted to church members. 



14 THE NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY [1637 

small holdings were general. The long line of coast 
encouraged a race of sailors and Massachusetts became 
prosperous in fisheries, ship-building, and the coasting- 
trade. 

Those distinctive features of the New England com- 
monwealths, the town-meeting, and the common school, 
educated the people to a wide liberty of thought, and 
strangely enough, their grim religion tended to a like 
result. The Puritan took his theology strong and hot, 
but he thought for himself. In the bitter New England 
winter, he sat in an unheated church, an attentive listener 
to a sermon, frequently of two hours' length, perchance, 
armed with a note-book, wherein he jotted down knotty 
points of doctrine for future discussion. The more com- 
plex the question the more truly enjoyable it proved; 
a contested statement in theology often engaged the at- 
tention of the entire community. The ecclesiastical 
synod convened at Newtown in the autumn of 1637 con- 
demned eighty-two disputed opinions over which the 
good people of Boston were in a ferment. Such intel- 
lectual training never produced a race of dullards. 

The settlers of New England were a superior class, 
educated, moral, and animated by a high purpose. 
Among them were many university men and the greater 
number were of good family. They viewed life with 
the seriousness engendered by their stern faith. While 
their persecuting spirit cannot be excused, we must, 
in justice, remember that it was common to all nations 
in their day. We should realize that in New England 
Puritanism represented not alone a Calvinistic creed, 
but civil liberty as well. Whatsoever threatened the 
church, affected the state, for religion was the animat- 
ing spirit of public as well as private life. The weak 
point in the political system of Massachusetts was the 



i637] PURITAN AUSTERITY 15 

restriction of the suffrage to church members in full com- 
munion. This was necessary in order to maintain the 
theocracy, but was in direct opposition to the democratic 
principles upon which rested the authority of the town 
meeting, and in fact during a period of thirty-three years 
(1631-1664) the town meeting was a church meeting. 
Political power passed into the hands of a minority, and 
a favored class arose, not an aristocracy of opulent land- 
owners as in Virginia, but rather an aristocracy of the 
saints, of the " elect " predestined to salvation. Natu- 
rally, there was an ever increasing discontent among the 
disfranchised. That the theocracy was maintained for 
upwards of fifty years, was owing to the intensity of the 
religious spirit among all classes, and to the superior 
leadership of the clergy. 

In the present day of mild creeds and wide toleration, 
the severity of life among the early Puritans seems most 
unlovely. Natural gayety found no place amid the pray- 
ers, psalm-singing and sermons ; the two services of the 
Sabbath were supplemented by an additional sermon 
known as the weekly lecture. The meeting-house offered 
no ceremonial; marriage was a civil function and the 
dead were laid to rest in silence. There were fast days 
but no holiday save Thanksgiving. Dancing and card- 
playing were unknown, and as for light literature it was 
replaced by the election sermon and the theological trea- 
tise. But we should ever remember that to these stern ) /v<2 
old Calvinists we owe the security of American liberty, c ^ffa- 
After the early Puritan exodus. New England received 
few accessions to her population from outside, but so 
prolific were the families of the early Puritans that there 
was a rapid growth in population. After the Revolution 
their descendants migrated to New York and beyond to 
the Middle West; wherever they settled they established 



1 6 THE NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY [1643 

the free school and the democratic principles of the town 
meeting and thus left an indelible impress upon the 
nation. 

The early colonists were in constant dread of the Indi- 
ans and for more effectual defense against the common foe 
Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven 
formed in 1643 ^ league — " The United Colonies of 
New England." In this alliance were included thirty- 
nine towns and an aggregate population of twenty-four 
thousand, Massachusetts having fifteen thousand of this 
number. Eight commissioners, two from each colony, 
met annually and not only planned for the general safety 
but adjusted differences that arose between the colonies. 
They were little more than a consulting board, for they 
had no means of enforcing their decisions, but they 
smoothed out many difficulties and more firmly bound 
the colonies together. The New England Confederacy 
was viewed with distrust in England, for this unavithor- 
ized union was held to be an assumption of self-govern- 
ment that savored of disloyalty. In explanation the 
colonists averred that their danger was imminent and 
England too far distant to protect them, they must com- 
bine for defense if they were not to be destroyed. 

Dissatisfaction with the restricted suffrage was soon 
manifested in Massachusetts. Thomas Hooker, a saintly 
and eloquent divine, pastor of the church at Newtown, 
was a man of liberal views. Desiring a wider liberty, 
he decided to form a new settlement, and with his con- 
gregation of one hundred souls journeyed through the 
wilderness until he reached the Connecticut where he 
founded Hartford (1636), which soon became a pros- 
perous community. Hooker was one of the first to 
formulate those democratic principles upon which the 
American republic was subsequently established. Seven 



1639] THE CONNECTICUT CONSTITUTION 17 

months before the adoption of the Connecticut constitu- 
tion he preached a sermon in which he declared : " the 
foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the 
people," and further : " They who have power to appoint 
officers and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set 
the bounds and limitations of the power and place unto 
which they call them." Thus in this new political creed 
the people were not only to select their rulers but to 
determine their authority. On January 14, 1639, the 
united towns of Hartford, Windsor and Weathersfield 
adopted a constitution which was the first Amer- 
ican constitution forming a government. It estab- 
lished a federal republic in miniature : the control of the 
towns was intrusted to their own citizens, while the gov- 
ernor, magistrates and other officers of the colony were 
elected by a general ballot. Thus the direction of public 
affairs was placed entirely in the hands of the people. 
Suffrage was not restricted to church members and the 
citizens were obliged to swear allegiance only to Con- 
necticut, no mention being anywhere made of king or 
parliament. In this constitution which served Connecti- 
cut until 181 8 we find the germ of the Constitution of 
the United States. The neighboring settlement at New 
Haven, founded in 1638, was the most austere of the 
Puritan colonies : not only was suffrage restricted to 
church members but so closely was the government 
founded upon the scriptures that trial by jury was re- 
jected, as no warrant for it could be found in the Bible. 
Rhode Island, on the other hand, was so exceedingly lib- 
eral in politics and religion as to have little fellowship 
with the Puritan communities. There the discontented 
and persecuted sought a refuge, for Roger Williams, 
the noble founder of Providence, desired " it to be a shel- 
ter for persons distressed for conscience." Roger Will- 



i8 THE NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY [1634 

iams was a born agitator, but withal gentle and kindly 
of heart, a clear thinker with a wide outlook and a spirit 
of liberality far in advance of his time. The Charter for 
Rhode Island, which he obtained from the Long Parlia- 
ment in 1644, was so liberal in its provisions that it re- 
mained in force until 1842. 

In Massachusetts there was a determined advance of 
democracy in spite of restricted suffrage. A representa- 
tive assembly was convened in 1634, the second to meet 
in America. Their charter granted them no such privi- 
lege, but the wily Puritans based their authority upon 
a broad interpretation of a clause in that instrument 
which stated : " to them were reserved the natural rights 
of Englishmen." Like the House of Burgesses in Vir- 
ginia the Massachusetts assembly secured to the people 
the right of taxation. By a statute passed in 1639 the 
representatives alone were empowered to assess taxes or 
dispose of the public funds thus raised. The following 
incident will give a glimpse of the independent spirit 
of the people. An attempt was made to increase the 
powers of the magistrates. The Rev. John Cotton in 
an election sermon preached against rotation in office, 
declaring that a just magistrate was as truly entitled to 
his office as a private man to his freehold. The people 
of Boston expressed their disapproval of this aristocratic 
theory by electing a new governor and during the four 
terms following declining to reelect. Previously they 
had each year placed in the chair the most distinguished 
man in Massachusetts — John Winthrop. The colony, in 
its first period, was most fortunate in having this great 
leader, for John Winthrop was a man of firm will and 
high purpose, a scholar and a gentleman. Winthrop and 
his associates who were contemplating a settlement in 
the New World signed on August 26, 1629, at Cam- 



1629] THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 19 

bridge, England, an agreement which contained an un- 
usual clause. This reads : " Provided always, that the 
whole government together with the patent for the said 
Plantation, be first, by an order of Court, legally trans- 
ferred and established to remain with us and others 
which shall inhabit upon the said Plantation." These 
independent spirits were determined to reserve to them- 
selves the control of their government, and this could 
only be accomplished by retaining possession of the char- 
ter and making Boston, not London, the seat of govern- 
ment. This scheme was successful and for upwards of 
fifty years the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was a semi- 
independent republic. Again and again efforts were 
made to deprive the Colony of its charter, but all such 
attempts were cleverly frustrated. Several causes con- 
duced to this result, distance, the difficulty of communi- 
cation, and the disturbed politics of England. One of 
the colonists pithily remarked : " This year ye will go 
to complain to Parliament, and the next year they will 
send to see how it is, and the third year the government 
is changed." But the day of reckoning was inevitable 
and the accession of Charles II. marks a crisis in Colo- 
nial affairs. It is not surprising that the king looked 
with disapproval upon this colony where the public writs 
made no mention of his name; where taxes were levied 
and laws enacted by authority of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts ; where the public buildings were desti- 
tute of the royal arms and the oath of allegiance was 
supplanted by the Freeman's Oath wherein was no men- 
tion of the king or his realm. Upon the plea of com- 
mercial necessity these independent colonists coined 
money and furthermore so determined were they to 
maintain their religious beliefs undisturbed, that they 
banished Quakers and other dissentients and refused 



20 THE NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY [1676 

to permit the established Church of England to hold 
services. 

Charles II. determined upon the submission of this 
independent province, and the people of Massachusetts 
prepared to contest every encroachment upon their privi- 
leges. To obtain their freedom they had borne exile, 
hunger and cold and constant menace from savage foes 
and had gained their prosperity by hard labor upon the 
rugged soil and stormy sea. They had confronted not 
alone danger from abroad but frequently discontent at 
home, for the restriction of the suffrage was a continual 
cause of complaint. The dissatisfied demanded that all 
church members of upright life should be entitled to 
vote, and it was finally enacted that the ballot should 
be granted to any Englishman who paid " ten shillings 
at a single rate " and who presented a certificate from 
the minister of the town certifying that the holder was 
orthodox in religion and of good character. The deci- 
sion still rested with the clergy, as the pastor must 
grant the certificate, but the terms were less rigid than 
before. 

Charles II. soon made his will known to the colony; 
their charter was to be respected, but they must take the 
oath of allegiance, administer justice in the king's name, 
replace the royal arms, repeal the restrictions upon the 
suffrage, and permit Episcopalians full liberty to prac- 
tice their religion. IMassachusetts made an indifferent 
assent, and then failed to comply with the king's com- 
mands, whereupon an agent, Sir Edmund Randolph, was 
sent (1676) to treat with the colony. \\'hen Randolph 
presented the king's letter to Governor Leverett and the 
assembled council, but three followed the example of 
Randolph and uncovered ; the governor and the other 
members kept their hats on during the reading of the 



I 



1692J MASSACHUSETTS; ROYAL GOVERNORS 2t 

royal missive. The struggle terminated when the Char- 
ter of Massachusetts was annulled by a decree in 
Chancery, June 21, 1684. Massachusetts became the 
property of the king and all rights and privileges were 
abrogated. The death of Charles II. (1685) occasioned 
his son, James II., to inaugurate the royal policy for 
the distressed colony. He sent over Sir Edmund Andros 
as governor of New England, New York and New Jer- 
sey, with headquarters at Boston. Andros was thor- 
oughly detested by the people. He seized the Old South 
Meeting House and held Episcopal services there until 
King's Chapel was built three years later. A censor was 
appointed for the press, the general court was abolished, 
unjust taxes were laid and finally the power of assess- 
ing taxes was taken from the town meeting and as- 
sumed by the governor. In the town of Ipswich the 
people refused to pay a tax thus laid, asserting that the 
right to tax belonged to the people. Their leader. Rev. 
John Wise, was arrested, suspended from the ministry, 
sent to jail and fined, as were others who had joined in 
resistance. Massachusetts was on the verge of revolt 
when James II. was driven from the kingdom and Will- 
iam and Mary ascended the throne. William Prince of 
Orange came from a land where constitutional govern- 
ment was understood and free thought was not feared. 
In 1692 he granted Massachusetts a new charter and its 
provisions were, on the whole, favorable to the colony. 
Her governor was to be appointed by the crown, but 
Plymouth and Maine were annexed to her territory. The 
right of the people to a representative assembly was con- 
firmed and also their right to lay taxes. A property 
qualification alone was required for suffrage, so that 
happily civil and religious authority were finally sep- 
arated. Massachusetts was now a royal province and the 



22 THE NEW ENGLAND THEOCRACY [1692 

usual contentions between the governors sent out from 
England and the assembly elected by the people were the 
political conditions by which, as in Virginia, the people 
were educated for the Revolution that was to set them 
forever free. 



CHAPTER III 

BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE FOR CONSTI- 
TUTIONAL LIBERTY 

The American colonies were debarred by distance and 
the ocean barrier from participating in those continental 
wars in which England was so frequently engaged dur- 
ing the greatest part of the 17th century. But by 1687 
the colonies could no longer preserve their immunity and 
thenceforth the New World as well as the Old was to 
be the scene of conflict. France had established pros- 
perous settlements in Canada and her Jesuit mission- 
aries had journeyed through the distant west and aided 
in planting forts, trading posts and missionary stations 
upon the Ohio, the Great Lakes and even the Mississippi, 
on which river the brave La Salle had in 1682 raised the 
banner of France and taken possession of the country 
in the name of his king, Louis XIV. The prospect of 
being confined to the seaboard by an alien people who 
had possession of the fertile lands to the west caused the 
English Colonists to view these encroachments with 
alarm, but hostilities were initiated by the French. With 
their Indian allies they descended from Canada upon 
unprotected border settlements, burned them to the 
ground and massacred the inhabitants. During a period 
of seventy- four years, dating from 1689, England and 
France were almost constantly at war and their colonies 
were involved in the struggle. The Americans, although 

23 



24 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1763 

their frontier settlements suffered severely, learned year 
by year something of the science of war and were trained 
to the use of arms : they were naturall}' good marksmen, 
for his trusty musket was the settler's sole defense against 
the Indian. The last of these conflicts was known as the 
Seven Years' ^^'ar (1756-1763) and involved the greater 
part of Europe. The English government sent a large 
body of troops to aid the Americans in an attempt to 
conquer Canada, and the war which had opened in Amer- 
ica with Braddock's defeat closed with Wolfe's triumph 
in the hour of death upon the Heights of Abraham. The 
long struggle was finally ended by the Treaty of Paris 
signed in 1763. France lost all of her vast domain in 
the New World. England was in possession from the 
Gulf of Mexico to the frozen north and westward to the 
Mississippi, while Spain received the city of New Or- 
leans with Louisiana, which latter included all the terri- 
tory lying- between the Mississippi River and the Rocky 
Mountains, to indenuiify her for the loss of Florida 
which she had incurred by her alliance with France. 

England's triumph seemed complete when she entered 
into possession of one-half of the American continent, 
as it was then known, but in her success lurked elements 
of discord little suspected by those in authority. The 
government looked upon the colonies as existing for the 
enrichment of the mother country ; a view of the relation 
of colonies to the state very generally held at that time. 
The thought of the day was still strongly imbued with 
feudal ideas, although the equality of all men before the 
law was not a new thought to the Englishman and was 
beginning to have a wider application. We can realize 
the advance of constitutional government during the past 
century, as we read the following paragraph from Queen 
\'ictoria's speech on the opening of the British Parlia- 



1763] ENGLISH POLITICS UNDER GEORGE III 25 

ment, January 30, 1900 : — "I have watched with cor- 
dial satisfaction the gradual development of my greater 
colonies into self-governing communities. I feel confi- 
dent that the establishment of the great Federation of 
Australia will prove advantageous, not only to the colo- 
nies concerned but also to the Empire at large." To a 
sovereign of the eighteenth century such a conception 
would have been impossible. 

In the day of George III. English political life was 
most corrupt. Among the members of Parliament were 
those whose constituents were the few laborers of old 
but insignificant hamlets, while the new and impor- 
tant manufacturing towns, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester 
and Birmingham were unrepresented. The good results 
of the American Revolution were not confined to the 
New World alone ; from the upheaval attending the loss 
of the colonies there arose in England a movement which, 
in time, culminated in a reformed political system and 
ended the disgrace of " rotten boroughs." 

In resisting British aggressions the American colonists 
exhibited those independent traits which were a most 
precious inheritance from their Anglo-Saxon forefathers. 
They felt that they were as truly Englishmen as those 
residing in England and should enjoy all the rights of 
English citizens. Through their representative assem- 
blies they had maintained the balance of power in spite 
of constant contentions with the royal governors, and 
having been comparatively independent during one hun- 
dred and fifty years, their ideas of the rights of citizen- 
ship had expanded. 

The Americans in the beginning of the contest had no 
thought of separating from the mother country. They 
were loyal to the great nation of which they formed a 
part, but their loyalty was not generally recognized 



26 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [i7S4 

among English politicians, owing to the constant com- 
plaints made by the ro}al governors to the '* Lords of 
the Committee of Trade and Plantations," a standing 
committee of the Privy Council having supervision of 
colonial affairs. Massachusetts in particular w^as thought 
to be a turbulent province, as for nearly fifty years there 
had been a determined resistance to paying the governor 
a fixed salary. The colonists realized that the governor 
must be responsible to the people or they would be de- 
prived of all control over him ; so year by year the 
assembly voted him a sufficient sum — it was not the pay- 
ment to which they objected — and the royal appointee 
understood that it was within the power of the people 
to lessen the amount if they saw fit to do so; a most 
salutary restraint under the circumstances. 

The Union of the thriving colonies along the Atlantic 
seaboard had long been contemplated. The home gov- 
ernment considering that military operations could thus 
be made more effective and also that the independent 
spirit of the colonists could be more easily curbed: the 
more far-seeing among the colonists realizing that a 
Union would afford increased facilities for resisting op- 
pression while furthering the general welfare. There 
met at Albany in 1754 a congress called to negotiate a 
treaty of amity with the Six Nations and to devise means 
of protection against a threatened invasion by the French. 
This was the earliest attempt to establish concerted action 
among the colonies and seven responded to the invita- 
tion — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. 
To this assembly Benjamin Franklin presented the first 
definite proposition for a permanent union of the thir- 
teen colonies, and this is known as the " Albany Plan." 
It proposed the establishment of a federal union form- 



i76i] WRITS OF ASSISTANCE 27 

ing a government self-sustaining and yet respecting the 
organized polity of the component parts, a principle em- 
bodied later in the Constitution of the United States. 
The delegates thought well of the plan, adopted it and 
recommended it to the colonial assemblies, but the people 
showed little interest; jealousies and trade rivalries stood 
in the way of its acceptance and no particular action 
was taken. A common peril was needed to unite the 
different sections as there was little sympathy between 
them and no community of interests. 

The close of the Seven Years' War left England at 
liberty to pay closer attention to her vast possessions in 
America and she immediately adopted a policy that 
goaded the people to a united resistance. Before the close 
of the war there had been attempts to more effectually 
enforce the navigation laws which were evaded in every 
possibly way, smuggling being extensively practised. In 
1761 Charles Paxton, Commissioner of Customs at Bos- 
ton, petitioned the Superior Court to grant him authority 
to use writs of assistance in searching for smuggled 
goods. By these writs officers were empowered to search 
any house, store or warehouse, making forcible entrance 
if resisted, and to seize goods believed to have been smug- 
gled. Under these conditions no place was safe from 
invasion, and the people at once demanded the refusal of 
the privilege which was authorized by an old law passed 
during the reign of Charles II. The advocate-general 
of the colony was a brilliant young lawyer, James Otis. 
Rather than defend the government he resigned his com- 
mission and having done so was retained by the mer- 
chants. The first scene of the American Revolution was 
enacted in the crowded council-chamber of the old Town- 
House in Boston (February, 1761), when Otis for nearly 
five hours held his audience spellbound by his impas- 



28 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1764 

sioned eloquence. Reviewing the whole question he 
pleaded for the rights of Englishmen against the exer- 
cise of arbitrary power, a kind of power. Otis exclaimed : 
" which cost one king of England his head and another 
his throne." He argued that such authority was a vio- 
lation of the constitution: "no act of Parliament," he 
declared, " can establish such a writ ; . . . An act of 
Parliament against the constitution is void." Describ- 
ing the injustice and hartlships resulting from the navi- 
gation acts he denounced the tyranny of taxation with- 
out representation. John Adams heard him and noted 
in his diary : " Otis was a flame of fire." Chief Justice 
Hutchinson granted the writs of assistance and the spark 
kindled by Otis smouldered but was not extinguished. 
By the Seven Years' War England gained a vast do- 
main, but this conquest entailed a heavy expenditure 
which added more than £65.000.000 to the national debt. 
A portion of this great sum had been incurred in defend- 
ing the colonies, for troops had been sent to their assist- 
ance and a fleet to protect their coast. Should not the 
Americans in simple justice now share the burden of ex- 
pense and not leave the over-taxed people of Great Brit- 
ain to bear it alone? A decisive answer was given when 
on J\Iarch 9, 1764. the Declaratory Resolves were read 
in the House of Commons by George Grenville, the prime 
minister. These were a series of resolutions announc- 
ing the intention of the government to raise a revenue 
in America by means of a tax on stamped paper. Gren- 
ville explained that the bill would not be introduced 
until the next session as he was quite willing to give the 
colonies, if they saw fit. an opportunity to suggest a more 
suitable method of taxation. George HI. heartily ap- 
proved of the proposed measure and expressed the opin- 
ion that it was a " wise regulation to augment the public 



1764] SAMUEL ADAMS 29 

revenues " and " to unite the interests of the most dis- 
tant possessions of the crown." This latter surmise was 
quite correct, but the union was not of the nature so 
confidently anticipated by his majesty. 

The news of the contemplated law kindled a blaze in 
the colonies, particularly in Massachusetts where the fire 
burned most fiercely. In this controversy the people pos- 
sessed a great leader — Samuel Adams, of whom it has 
been said : " He was born and tempered a wedge of steel 
to split the knot of ligniun vitae that tied America to 
England." Adams early displayed a most independent 
spirit. At the age of twenty-one he received from Har- 
vard College the degree of Master of Arts, and on that 
occasion selected for the subject of his thesis: " Whether 
it be lawful to resist the Supreme Magistrate, if the 
Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved." This 
address he calmly read in the presence of the royal gov- 
ernor, the crown officials and the authorities of the col- 
lege. Adams devoted time and energy to public affairs, 
but was unthrifty in the management of his private 
business, and the malt-house inherited from his father's 
estate was in his hands a failure. He possessed a love 
of liberty passionate and sincere, and a democratic spirit 
that enabled him to thoroughly understand and sym- 
pathize with the common people. Placing their good 
and his country's welfare before all else, he was ever 
careless of honors and emoluments for himself, although 
a most astute and clever politician. This great patriot 
is called " The Man of the Town-meeting," a proud title, 
for from these democratic gatherings emanated that spirit 
of liberty which eventually established the American 
Republic. 

The colonists rightly considered that the late war, 
while of benefit to themselves, had resulted in the ag- 



30 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1764 

grandizemcnt of Great Britain, They asserted that they 
had suffered severely ; farming lands had been laid 
waste, villages burned, and forts destroyed. They had 
incurred heavy expenses for defense, and had voluntarily 
equipped a large body of troops at their own cost. So 
great had been this expenditure that they had contracted 
debts for the payment of which their people must be 
heavily taxed. They had lost thirty thousand men in 
the field, and spent some three million pounds sterling, 
one-sixth of which had been contributed by Massachu- 
setts. But the main question related to principles, not 
payments. 

In England it is the House of Commons, and in 
America the House of Representatives that has author- 
ity to loosen or tighten the national purse strings ; and 
this privilege, to dispose of their money as they saw fit, 
was one of the earliest rights for which the Anglo- 
Saxon race contended. Grants of money to king and 
Parliament, or for any use of government must be made 
by the people themselves or by their representatives ; 
having established this principle, a decided advance was 
made in political freedom. The colonists had control 
of taxation through their representative assemblies, and 
entirely supported their domestic governments ; having 
no representative in the British Parliament, they con- 
tended that that body had no right to take their money 
and vote it away as they saw fit. Their charters secured 
to them all the rights of Englishmen, but, exclaimed 
Sanniel Adams, " We claim British rights not by charter 
only ; we are born to them." A fundamental principle 
of the English Constitution was violated when the people 
were taxed by a body in which they were not represented. 
That certain large manufacturing towns in England sub- 
mitted to the outrage simply proved that they lacked an 



1764] THE STAMP ACT PROPOSED 31 

independent spirit and a just appreciation of political 
rights. Otis pithily said : " Why ring everlasting changes 
to the colonists on them ? If they are not represented they 
ought to be." This was the first attempt of Parliament 
to lay an internal tax in the colonies, for the Americans 
considered the oppressive Navigation Laws as commer- 
cial restrictions for the regulation of trade throughout 
the empire. 

The feeling was intensified in Massachusetts by the 
fear that Parliament would impose upon them the es- 
tablished church, and assess them for its support ; the 
prospect of a bishop in their midst was contemplated 
with bitterness. The Puritan clergy recognized the 
danger, and in vigorous political sermons encouraged 
resistance. Every phase of the question was discussed 
in the press and among the people, who soon divided 
into two parties, the Tories or Loyalists, and the Whigs, 
speedily to be termed " Patriots " and " Sons of Liberty." 
The former consisted of crown officials and of that 
wealthy and conservative class, ever timid in a situation 
that threatens a disturbance of the existing order. The 
origin of the Tory party in New England is traced to 
the discontent among the disfranchised under the Theoc- 
racy, who, resenting their exclusion from political life, 
joined the circle of crown officials. The Whigs rep- 
resented the great body of colonists ; they were independ- 
ent in spirit, proud of their fair inheritance in the new 
world, trained to a love of liberty by a wider political 
freedom than any other people of their day, and deter- 
mined at any sacrifice to maintain their rights. The first 
action taken was on May 24, 1764, in the Boston town- 
meeting when the representatives to the General Court 
received the instructions of the people. These were 
presented by Samuel Adams in a paper drafted by him- 



32 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1765 

self. Stating the situation with great fairness, he asked 
the pertinent question : " If taxes are laid upon us in 
any shape without our having a legal representative 
where they are laid, are we not reduced from the char- 
acter of free subjects to the miserable state of tributary 
slaves ? " And he closed with a suggestion for combined 
action among the colonies, " that by the united applica- 
tions of all who are aggrieved all may happily attain 
redress." This proposition was acted upon, a circular 
letter was sent to the colonies, and the assemblies of Con- 
necticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and South 
Carolina responded to the appeal by adopting, as had 
Massachusetts, a formal remonstrance against the Stamp 
Act; needless to add these memorials received scant 
courtesy from Parliament. 

The proposed bill, introduced by Grenville, provided 
that all bonds, bills, leases, ship's papers, insurance pol- 
icies and legal documents must be written on stamped 
paper under penalty of heavy fines. It was signed by 
the king March 22, 1765, having passed both houses 
of Parliament with little excitement save for Barre's 
impassioned outburst. Isaac Barre had been with the 
army in America and understood the colonial character. 
Charles Townshend, First Lord of Trade, concluded his 
remarks in favor of the bill with these words : " And 
now will these American children, planted by our care, 
nourished up by our indulgence until they are grown 
to a good degree of strength and opulence, and pro- 
tected by our arms, will they grudge to contribute their 
mite to relieve us from the heavy load of national 
expense which we lie under?" Undoubtedly Towns- 
hend represented the prevalent opinion among English 
politicians. Barre instantly arose and replied : " Children 
planted by your care? No! Your oppression planted 



1765] BARRE'S SPEECH 33 

them in America; they fled from your tyranny into a 
then uncuUivated land, where they were exposed to al- 
most all the hardships to which human nature is liable, 
and, among others, to the savage cruelty of the enemy 
of the country, — a people the most subtle, and, I take 
upon me to say, the most truly terrible of any people that 
ever inhabited any part of God's earth ; and yet, actuated 
by principles of true English liberty, they met all these 
hardships with pleasure, compared with those suffered 
in their own country from the hands of those that should 
have been their friends. They nourished up by your 
indulgence? They grew by your neglect of them. As 
soon as you began to care about them, that care was 
exercised in sending persons to rule over them, in one 
department and another, who were perhaps the deputies 
of some deputy of members of this House, sent to spy 
out their liberty, to misrepresent their actions and to prey 
upon them, — whose behavior, on many occasions, has 
caused the blood of those Sons of Liberty to recoil 
within them, — men promoted to the highest seats of 
justice; some, to my knowledge, were glad, by going to 
foreign countries, to escape being brought to a bar of 
justice in their own. They protected by your arms? 
They have nobly taken up arms in your defense, have 
exerted their valor, amidst their constant and laborious 
industry, for the defense of a country whose frontiers, 
while drenched in blood, its interior parts have yielded 
all its little savings to your enlargement; and, believe 

ME, remember / THIS DAY TOLD YOU SO, that the 

same spirit which actuated that people at first will con- 
tinue with them still ; but prudence forbids me to ex- 
plain myself any further. God knows, I do not at this 
time speak from motives of party heat. What I deliver 
are the genuine sentiments of my heart ; however supe- 



34 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1765 

rior to me in general knowledge and experience the 
respectable body of this House may be, yet I claim to 
know more of America than most of you, having seen 
and been conversant in that country. The people there 
are as truly loyal, I believe, as any subjects the king 
has ; but a people jealous of their liberties, and who will 
vindicate them, if they should be violated. But the sub- 
ject is too delicate. I will say no more." This speech, 
soon published in America, delighted the patriots. A 
Boston town-meeting voted that Barre's portrait should 
be placed in Faneuil Hall, and secret societies, pledged 
to oppose the execution of the obnoxious law, adopted 
the name " Sons of Liberty." 

In organized measures of resistance the colonists North 
and South bore an honorable part. " Virginia rang the 
alarm bell for the continent." The House of Burgesses 
was in session when the news of the passage of the Stamp 
Act was received. Shortly after a new member took his 
place among them, an eloquent young lawyer, Patrick 
Henry. When others hesitated he was fearless. On the 
blank page of a law-book he wrote a series of resolutions 
and presented them to the assembly. They asserted that 
the first settlers brought with them and transmitted to 
their descendants all the privileges possessed by the 
people of Great Britain ; that these privileges had been 
re-affirmed by royal charters ; that the General Assembly 
of the colony, in its representative capacity, possessed 
the exclusive right to lay taxes upon the people of the 
colony; that every attempt to vest such power in any 
other person or persons was " illegal, unconstitutional 
and unjust," and had " a manifest tendency to destroy 
British as well as American liberty " ; and that the 
people were not bound to obey any law imposing a tax 
unless said tax was laid by the General Assembly. In 



1765] I'IRST AMERICAN CONGRESS 35 

the debate over these resokitions, Henry startled the 
House by exclaiming: " Tarquin and Caesar had each 
a Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George 
the Third," — interrupted by cries of " Treason," " Trea- 
son," undaunted, he concluded, "may profit by their 
example." But four of these resolutions were adopted 
(May 30, 1765), when the governor dissolved the as- 
sembly but the entire six with the preamble were prmted 
in the newspapers and met with general approval. Mean- 
while Massachusetts had taken action. When the legis- 
lature met in June, James Otis proposed the calling of a 
congress, and a circular letter was accordingly addressed 
to all the colonies, requesting them to send represent- 
atives to meet in New York in the following October. 

In this first American Congress nine colonies were 
represented — Massachusetts, South Carolina, Pennsyl- 
vania Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, 
New Jersey and New York. The governor of Virginia 
prevented the meeting of the legislature and thus frus- 
trated the election of delegates, but no one doubted that 
colony's hearty sympathy with the measures proposed. 
New York was the headquarters of General Gage, com- 
mander-in-chief of the British forces in America, British 
troops were quartered in the city, and British ships-of- 
war were stationed in the harbor. Nothing daunted, con- 
gress convened and proceeded to express the sentiments 
of the people. A step in advance was now taken. Chris- 
topher Gadsden, a broad-minded delegate from South 
Carolina, urged that they should no longer base their 
liberty upon roval charters. The tenor of his speech may 
be gathered from his summary in a letter: " A confirma- 
tion of our essential and common rights as Englishmen 
may be pleaded from charters safely enough ; but any 
further dependence in them may be fatal. We should 



36 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1765 

stand upon the broad common ground of those natural 
rights that we all feel and know as men and as descend- 
ants of Englishmen. I wish the charters may not en- 
snare us at last by drawing different colonies to act dif- 
ferently in this great cause. Whenever that is the case, 
all will be over with the whole. There ought to be no 
New-England man, no New-Yorker, known on the con- 
tinent : but all of us Americans." The American people 
were to suffer heavy trials before they realized this ideal 
of complete nationality. The congress adopted memo- 
rials to the king and parliament, clearly defining the posi- 
tion of the colonists, and then adjourned October 25, 

1765. 

On the same day in Boston the legislature assembled, 
and Samuel Adams presented an able state paper setting 
forth the principles for which the Americans were con- 
tending, and also a series of resolutions, these Massachu- 
setts resolves being a worthy accompaniment to those of 
Virginia. Thus were the people strengthened and forti- 
fied, and the attempted enforcement of the Stamp Act 
encountered a most determined resistance. In New York 
a reprint of the act was hawked about the streets as " The 
Folly of England and the Ruin of America." News- 
papers bore a printed death's-head in place of the stamp ; 
throughout the country boxes of stamps were seized and 
destroyed, while the stamp officers were burned in effigy 
and everywhere received such offensive treatment that 
many resigned. In Boston public excitement ran so high 
that a mob attacked the handsome residence of Chief- 
justice Hutchinson (August 26, 1765), destroyed his fine 
furniture and plate and a valuable library, and left the 
house a ruin. An unjustifiable act, for Hutchinson had 
never favored the stamp law, although carrying out the 
measures of government as required by his office; but 



1765] WILLIAM PITT 37 

a mob is never amenable to reason. All agreed to ignore 
the use of stamps, although business was disastrously 
affected by this decision and, still further, by the forma- 
tion of non-importation societies pledged not to trade with 
England until the Stamp Act was repealed. The wear- 
ing of homespun became fashionable, and in various 
patriotic economies the American women were as self- 
denying as the men. The English realized that these 
conditions not only entailed present loss, but raised a 
future rival in trade, for it was evident that the Amer- 
icans in their widely diversified colonies could produce 
or manufacture all the necessaries of life. The mercan- 
tile classes of England became alarmed ; those in author- 
ity realized that the law could only be enforced at the 
point of the bayonet, and neither the king nor his minis- 
ters were prepared for civil war. 

The colonial question was brought before Parliament 
in January, 1766. That great statesman William Pitt, 
afterward Earl of Chatham, was ill, being a martyr to 
the gout, but he exclaimed, " My resolution is taken ; 
and if I can crawl or be carried, I will deliver my mind 
and heart upon the state of America." A few extracts 
from his speech on this occasion must suffice. " It is 
a long time," he said, " since I have attended in Parlia- 
ment. When the resolution was taken in the House to 
tax America, I was ill in bed. If I could have been 
carried in my bed, so great was the agitation of my mind 
for the consequences, I would have solicited some kind 
hand to have laid me down on this floor, to have borne 
my testimony against it. . . It is my opinion that this 
kingdom has no right to lay a tax upon the colonies. . . 
They are the subjects of this kingdom ; equally entitled 
with yourselves to all the natural rights of mankind and 
the peculiar privileges of Englishmen ; ec^ually bound by 



38 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1765 

the laws, and equally participating of the constitution of 
this free country. The Americans are the sons, not the 
bastards of England . . . Taxation is no part of the gov- 
erning or legislative power. The taxes are a voluntary 
gift and grant of the commons alone. . . When, in this 
House, we give and grant, we give and grant what is 
our own. But in an American tax, what do we do? 
We, Your Majesty's Commons of Great Britain, give and 
grant to your majesty — what ? Our own property ? No. 
We give and grant to your Majesty the property of your 
Majesty's commons of America. . . There is an idea in 
some, that the colonies are virtually represented in this 
House. They never have been represented at all in Par- 
liament ; . . . I would fain know by whom an American is 
represented here. Is he represented by any knight of 
the shire, in any county of this kingdom ? . . . Or will you 
tell him that he is represented by any representative of 
a borough, — a borough which, perhaps, no man ever 
saw?. . . The idea of a virtual representation of America 
in this House is the most contemptible that ever entered 
into the heart of man . . . The commons of America, rep- 
resented in their several assemblies, have ever been in 
possession of this their constitutional right, of giving and 
granting their own money. They would have been slaves 
if they had not enjoyed it." 

Grenville endeavored to refute him : " That this king- 
dom," he said, " has the sovereign, the supreme legis- 
lative power over America, cannot be denied ; and taxa- 
tion is a part of that sovereign power. It is one branch 
of the legislation. It has been, and it is, exercised over 
those who are not, who were never, represented. It is 
exercised . . . over many great manufacturing towns. The 
seditious spirit of the colonies owes its birth to the fac- 
tions in this House. We were told we trod on tender 



1 76s] DEBATE ON THE ST AMP- ACT 



39 



ground ; we were bid to expect disobedience. What was 
this but telHng the Americans to stand out against the 
law, to encourage their obstinacy with the expectation of 
support from hence ? " 

Pitt repHed with heat : " I have been charged with 
giving birth to sedition in America. . . I rejoice that 
America has resisted." He closed with a final appeal 
for justice : " The Americans have not acted in all things 
with prudence and temper. They have been driven to 
madness by injustice. Will you punish them for the 
madness you have occasioned? Rather let prudence and 
temper come first from this side. I will undertake for 
America that she will follow the example . . . Upon the 
whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is really my 
opinion. It is that the Stamp Act be repealed, absolutely, 
totally and immediately ; that the reason for the repeal 
be assigned, because it was founded on an erroneous prin- 
ciple. At the same time, let the sovereign authority of 
this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong 
terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every 
point of legislation, that we may bind their trade, confine 
their manufactures, and exercise every power whatsoever, 
except that of taking their money out of their pockets 
without their consent." 

The situation was bitterly debated for nearly three 
months. Lord Mansfield, a man of vast learning and elo- 
quent of speech, defended the act in the House of Lords. 
" Our colonies," he asserted, " emigrated under the au- 
thority of the crown and Parliament, upon the terms of 
being subjects of England. They were modelled grad- 
ually into their present forms, by charters, grants, and 
statutes ; but they were never separated from the mother 

country, or so emancipated as to become sui juris 

The colonies must remain dependent upon the jurisdic- 



40 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1766 

tion of the mother country, or they must be totally dis- 
membered from it, and form a league of union among 
themselves against it, which could not be effected with- 
out great violence . . . There can be no doubt . . . that the 
inhabitants of the colonies are as much represented in 
Parliament as the greatest part of the people of England 
are represented, among nine millions of whom there are 
eight which have no votes in electing members of Parlia- 
ment. Every objection, therefore, to the dependency of 
the colonies upon Parliament, which arises to it upon the 
ground of representation, goes to the whole present Con- 
stitution of Great Britain ; and I suppose it is not meant 
to new-model that too ! " In contradiction of Pitt's opin- 
ion he asserted that " a member of Parliament, chosen 
for any borough, represents not only the constituents and 
inhabitants of that particular place, but he represents the 
inhabitants of every other borough in Great Britain. He 
represents the city of London and all other, the commons 
of this land, and the inhabitants of all the colonies and 
dominions of Great Britain ; and is in duty and con- 
science bound to take care of their interests." Continu- 
ing he exhorted his hearers to stand firm. " You may 
abdicate your right over the colonies. Take care, my 
Lords, how you do so, for such an act will be irrevocable. 
Proceed then, my Lords, with spirit and firmness ; and, 
when you shall have established your authority, it will 
be time to show your lenity. The Americans. . .are a 
very good people and I wish them exceedingly well ; but 
they are heated and inflamed ... I cannot end better than 
by saying, ... in the words of Maurice, Prince of Orange, 
concerning the Hollanders, ' God bless this industrious, 
frugal, well-meaning but easily deluded people ! ' " 

On the 2 1 St of February (1766) General Conway, sec- 
retary of state for the colonies, moved for permission to 



1766] REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT 41 

present a bill for the repeal of the Stamp Act, stating 
among other just causes of alarm that it had been most 
disadvantageous to English trade; had decreased the 
manufactures of Manchester alone by one-third ; and had 
thrown thousands of artisans out of employment. Pitt, 
swathed in flannel, entered the House on crutches, and 
although suffering participated in the debate. The divi- 
sion took place between one and two o'clock in the morn- 
ing, and it was then announced that the vote stood two 
hundred and seventy-five for repeal, and one hundred and 
seventy-five for modifying and enforcing the law. It is 
related that as Conway left Westminster the great crowd 
gathered in the street heartily cheered him ; Grenville they 
greeted with hisses ; but when Pitt appeared the cheering 
throng uncovered. 

The bill providing for unconditional repeal passed both 
Houses and was signed by the king in March, 1766; at 
the same time a declaratory act was passed, affirming the 
supreme authority of Parliament to legislate for the colo- 
nies " in all cases whatsoever." The repeal was received 
with much satisfaction in England, many houses in Lon- 
don were illuminated, and the Thames shipping was gay 
with flags. In America bonfires, illuminations, bell- 
ringings and salutes testified to the general rejoicing. 
The name of Pitt was everywhere hailed with honor. 
Rev. Charles Chauncy, pastor of the first church of 
Boston, preached a sermon on this happy occasion, taking 
for his text a verse from Proverbs : "As cold waters to 
a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." In 
closing he paid the following tribute to the greatest states- 
man in England : " That illustrious name in special, Pitt, 
will, I trust be never mentioned but with honor, as the 
savior, under God, and the two kings who made him their 
prime minister, both of the nation and these colonies, 



42 BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE [1766 

not only from the power of France, but from that which 
is much worse, a state of slavery, under the appellation of 
Englishmen. May his great services for his king, the 
nation, and these colonies, be had in everlasting remem- 
brance ! " 



CHAPTER IV 

A UNITED RESISTANCE 

In the general exultation over repeal the Americans 
paid slight heed to the fact that the government, rather 
than resort to extreme measures, had but reluctantly 
made a concession, and that the declaratory act had re- 
affirmed the supreme power of Parliament over the 
colonies. But their satisfaction was destined to be short- 
lived. The principle of " no taxation without represen- 
tation " had a wide application, and if conceded the party 
of New Whigs under Pitt's leadership would undoubt- 
edly attempt far reaching and democratic reforms in Eng- 
land. Even now the pertinent question was asked : if 
Boston and New York decline to pay taxes because un- 
represented, why should Leeds and Sheffield be as- 
sessed? The Tories and Old Whigs viewed the ad- 
vance of this new liberalism with intense dislike. A 
reformed political system would necessarily follow a 
redistribution of seats in the House of Commons, and 
there would be a consequent loss of power by the great 
families who had so long governed by means of their 
control of " pocket boroughs." As for George III., he 
was determined to live up to his mother's constant ad- 
monition, " George, be king ! " To assert his supremacy 
these independent colonies must be brought to submis- 
sion. 

43 



44 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1766 

A very just view of the American position is taken by 
the English historian Lecky ; he says : " Manchester and 
Sheffield had no more direct representation in Parlia- 
ment than Boston or Philadelphia; but the relations of 
unrepresented Englishmen and of colonists to the English 
Parliament were very different. Parliament could never 
long neglect the fierce beatings of the waves of popular 
discontent around its walls. It might long continue per- 
fectly indifferent to the wishes of a population three 
thousand miles from the English shore. When Parlia- 
ment taxed the English people, the taxing body itself 
felt the weight of the burden it imposed ; but Parliament 
felt no part of the weight of colonial taxation, and had 
therefore a direct interest in increasing it. The English 
people might justly complain that they were taxed by 
a body in which they were very imperfectly represented ; 
but this was a widely different thing from being taxed 
by the legislature of another country. To adopt the 
powerful language of an Irish writer, no free people 
will ever admit * that persons distant from them a thou- 
sand leagues are to tax them to whatever amount they 
please, without their consent, without knowing them or 
their concerns, without any sympathy or affection or 
interest, without even sharing themselves in the taxes 
they impose — on the contrary, diminishing their own 
burdens exactly in the degree they increase theirs.' " 

Within six months after the repeal of the Stamp Act 
Charles Townshend became Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
He devised a new plan of taxation for the colonies which 
met with the king's hearty approval. Pitt, now become 
Lord Chatham, was utterly incapacitated by illness and 
could offer no opposition. Townshend's scheme did not 
lack shrewdness. The Americans had hitherto discrim- 
inated between internal taxes and port duties, considering 



1767] TOWNSHEND REVENUE ACT 45 

the latter as external taxes, placed by Parliament for the 
regulation of trade throughout the empire. Townshend 
determined to take advantage of this distinction. He 
announced to the Commons : "I know the mode by 
which a revenue may be drawn from America without 
offence " ; at the same time he expressed his contempt 
for the idea upon which he based his scheme : "I laugh 
at the absurd distinction between internal and external 
taxes ... It is a distinction without a difference ; it is 
perfect nonsense ; if we have the right to impose the 
one, we have a right to impose the other." Townshend's 
bill was passed in July, 1767, and laid a duty on wine, oil 
and fruits if carried directly to America from Spain or 
Portugal ; on glass, paper, lead, painters' colors and tea. 
The revenue thus derived was to be used in paying an 
annual salary of £2000 to each royal governor, and £500 
each to the Justices appointed by the king. To further 
embarrass the local governments the crown was author- 
ized to establish a civil list in every American colony 
and given full power to grant salaries and pensions. A 
board of revenue commissioners was to have jurisdic- 
tion over the whole country with headquarters at Boston, 
and the legality of writs of assistance was re-affirmed 
and their use sanctioned. The bill was accompanied by 
a special act suspending all legislative action by the New 
York Assembly until that body complied with demands, 
sent out from England, to furnish quarters for the use 
of the British troops within that city. 

The Townshend Revenue Act was not designed for 
the relief of English taxpayers, for it was expressly 
stated that the income obtained was to be expended in 
the colonies. The design of the bill was political, not 
commercial ; George III. and the master spirit of his 
cabinet, Charles Townshend, were determined to assert 



46 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1767 

the supremacy of the crown. Townshend died within 
three months after the passage of his mischievous bill, 
but the king found a phant minister in Lord North who 
became Chancellor of the Exchequer and afterward prime 
minister. Macaulay tells us that at this time there sprang 
into existence " a reptile species of politicians " never 
seen in England before or since. " These men dis- 
claimed all political ties except those which bound them 
to the throne. They were willing to coalesce with any 
party, to undermine any party, to assault any party, at 
a moment's notice. To them, all administrations and 
all oppositions were the same . . . They were generally 
to be found in places of much emolument, little labor 
and no responsibility. . . Their peculiar business was, 
not to support the ministry against the opposition, but 
to support the king against the ministry. Whenever 
his Majesty was induced to give a reluctant assent to 
the introduction of some bill which his constitutional 
advisers regarded as necessary, his friends in the House 
of Commons were sure to speak against it, to vote 
against it, to throw in its way every obstruction 
compatible with forms of Parliament. If his Majesty 
found it necessary to admit into his closet a secretary 
of state or a first lord of the treasury whom he dis- 
liked, his friends were sure to miss no opportunity of 
thwarting- and humbling the obnoxious minister. In 
return for these services, the king covered them with 
his protection. It was to no purpose that his responsible 
servants complained to him that they were daily betrayed 
and impeded by men who were eating the bread of the 
government... He never would turn them out; and 
while everything else in the state was constantly chang- 
ing, these sycophants seemed to have a life estate in their 
offices." The support of this division, known as the 



1767] " FARMER'S LETTERS" 47 

" King's Friends," and the compliance of Lord North 
who retained the premiership during twelve years (1770- 
1782), explains the fact that George III. was enabled 
to force the quarrel with the Americans to the bitter 
end. England did not lack statesmen ; there were great 
men in both Houses, and they vigorously protested 
against a course they were powerless to prevent. 

Townshend's subterfuge excited contempt in America 
where it was now declared that all taxes placed solely 
for revenue, whether internal or external, were equally 
a violation of the principle for which the colonists were 
contending. Forcible resistance was not advised, but 
the non-importation societies became active and were 
supplemented by organized efforts for the establishment 
of home industries. The campaign of education con- 
tinued ; Samuel Adams was a most able and prolific 
writer for the press, and the " Farmer's Letters " by 
John Dickinson of Pennsylvania were widely circulated 
and exerted a marked influence. Throughout the col- 
onies a natural question now arose : if " taxation with- 
out representation " be illegal, is not other legislation 
by a parliament in which we are unrepresented equally 
unjust? Is it not tyranny for such a body to restrict 
our manufactures and hamper our commerce? The 
" Farmer's Letters " were only twelve in number, but 
they reviewed this question very thoroughly and forcibly, 
as the following extract shows : " We have been pro- 
hibited from procuring manufactures, in all cases, any- 
where but from Great Britain (excepting linens which 
we are permitted to import directly from Ireland). We 
have been prohibited, in some cases, from manufactur- 
ing for ourselves ; and may be prohibited in others . . . 
If Great Britain can order us to come to her for neces- 
saries we want, and can order us to pay what taxes she 



48 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1768 

pleases before we take them away, or when we land 
them here, we are as abject slaves as France and Poland 
can show in wooden shoes and with uncombed hair." 
In place of " no taxation without representation " a new 
phrase sprang into life — " No legislation without rep- 
resentation."' At this period the Americans had no lit- 
erature worthy the name, except that called forth by the 
questions of the hour, but they had more advanced the- 
ories and a broader political intelligence than any other 
people of their day. In debate and discussion they were 
also to win distinction, for the exigencies of the situa- 
tion fostered their gifts born of a sturdy independence 
of spirit and an innate love of freedom. In January 
1768 the Massachusetts Assembly adopted a series of 
able state papers drafted by Samuel Adams; they con- 
sisted of memorials to the king and members of the 
ministry, setting forth the injustice done the colonists, 
and asking redress for the grievances of these loyal 
subjects. A month later a circular letter, written by 
the same hand, was sent to each colonial assembly, pro- 
posing consultation and concerted action in defense of 
their rights. It was received with cordial approval by 
the colonists, but caused ill-feeling in England where 
concerted action by thirteen colonies was regarded as 
tending to rebellion. Lord Hillsborough had been made 
secretary of state for the colonies, and he now issued 
orders that the Massachusetts Assembly should rescind 
the circular letter ; the assembly by a vote of ninety-two 
to seventeen refused compliance, and Bernard, the royal 
governor, acting under orders, dissolved the sitting. 
Hillsborough instructed the colonial governors to prevent 
any action upon the circular letter by their respective 
assemblies, and in case of non-compliance to dissolve 
them. In a short time Massachusetts, Virginia, Mary- 



1768] BRITISH AFFRONTS 49 

land and South Carolina were, like New York, deprived 
of a legislature. New York had, however, the distinc- 
tion of losing her privilege by act of Parliament, whereas 
the other colonies were subject to the mandate of a 
cabinet minister acting under royal orders. At this 
time two toasts became very popular at Boston and 
Charleston: "The illustrious Ninety-two" and "The 
unanimous Twenty-six " ; these figures indicating the 
number of members who in the assemblies of Massachu- 
setts and South Carolina had voted not to rescind. 

In June the frigate Roniney of the English navy ar- 
rived in Boston harbor and speedily aroused the in- 
dignation of the people by impressing New England 
seamen. This affront and the constant irritation over 
the exactions of the revenue officers culminated in a 
riot when the sloop Liberty, owned by John Hancock, 
was seized for alleged violation of the revenue laws. 
Hot words passed between officers and citizens on the 
wharf, the excitement spread, windows were broken, 
officers pelted, and a small boat belonging to the col- 
lector was appropriated by the crowd and burned on 
the common. This fracas was magnified by the gov- 
ernor and officials, and, taken in connection with the 
decided refusal of the assembly to rescind the circular 
letter, strengthened the king's determination to break 
the stubborn spirit of the colonists, and two regiments 
were ordered to Boston. Meanwhile efforts were made 
to obtain information against Adams and Otis, in order 
that they might be taken to England for trial under an 
obsolete statute of Henry VHI. concerning treason com- 
mitted abroad. Deprived of a representative assembly, the 
Boston town-meeting proved equal to the emergency. It 
met on September 12th (1768), and decided on the bold 
move of summoning a " town-meeting " in which the 



so 



A UNITED RESISTANCE [1768 



entire conimoiuvcalth should bo represented. It further 
advised all persons to provide themselves with fire-arms 
on the pretense *' of the prevailing- apprehension of a 
war with I'ranee"; and before adjourning appointed a 
day of fasting and prayer. Ninety-six towns and eight 
districts sent delegates to the " town-meeting " which 
convened at Boston on September 22d and remained in 
session for one week. An address to the king was 
adopted wherein it was denied that jNIassaehusetts was 
in a state of insurrection, but the very fact of such a 
convention was to the king strong proof of rebellion. 

The day after the "meeting" adjourned (September 
28th), the warships bringing the troops to the peaceable 
town of Boston entered the harbor. The soldiers hav- 
ing been supplied with sixteen rounds of shot were landed 
at Long Wharf. With flags flying, drums beating, fifes 
playing, followed by a train of artillery and two cannon, 
thev marched to the common, while the citizens, who 
were to be overawed by their presence, quietly watched 
the proceedings. By an act of Parliament troops could 
not be quartered on a town if there was sufficient room 
for them in regular barracks, and any officer quartering 
troops otherwise than as the law directed could be dis- 
missed the service. Gage had ordered that the regi- 
ments should remain in the city ; the town authorities 
refused them quarters as there was abundant room in 
the barracks at Castle William in the harbor. General 
Gage journeyed from New York to Boston to enforce 
his demands, but he could do nothing. The magis- 
trates were sustained by the law. The troops were 
therefore encamjxxl on the connnon until cold weather 
forced their commander. Colonel Dalrymple, to hire lodg- 
ings for them at very dear rates and at the expense of 
the crown. Two cannons were placed opposite the Town 



1769] TAX ON TEA RETAINED 51 

House and pointed at the assembly chamber, but the 
insulted citizens forebore to give cause of offense, and 
the troops passed the winter in idleness. 

In Parliament the disturbed state of the American 
colonies gave rise to heated debates. Lord North de- 
clared : " America must fear you before she can love 
you. If America is to be the judge, you may tax in 
no instance, you may regulate in no instance ... I am 
against repealing the last act of Parliament, securing to 
us a revenue out of America; I will never think of 
repealing it until I see America prostrate at my feet." 
" We shall grant nothing to the Americans," exclaimed 
Lord Hillsborough, " except what they may ask with a 
halter around their necks." In this spirit the ministry 
received the petitions and addresses forwarded by the 
colonial assemblies, but in the House of Commons many 
brave words were spoken in behalf of the distressed 
people, and they were not without effect, for in the spring 
of 1769 it was decided to repeal all the duties placed 
by the act of 1767, except that on tea, which it was 
determined to retain as an assertion of the right to tax 
the colonies. The Americans were in no wise con- 
ciliated by this concession which left the main question 
as before. 

During the year there was little apparent change in 
the situation, but the colonists strengthened the bond of 
mutual sympathy. The Virginia Assembly which in- 
cluded among its representatives Washington, Jefferson 
and Henry met at Williamsburgh and passed a series 
of resolutions in which the colonial position was clearly 
stated and a warning added against carrying any Amer- 
ican citizen to England for trial. It was ordered that 
these resolves be transmitted to the other colonies, and 
in consequence of this bold action the governor dissolved 



52 A UNITED RESISTANCE hyGg 

the assembly. But the members met in the ballroom of 
the Raleigh Tavern and adopted a further series of reso- 
lutions embodying a non-importation scheme drafted by 
George Mason and presented by Washington, and bind- 
ing the colonists to maintain this policy until all the 
duties placed by the Townshend act should be repealed. 
These resolutions were agreed to by every southern col- 
ony as well as by Massachusetts and others at the north, 
and greatly strengthened the patriot cause. The mer- 
chants who continued to trade with England received 
rough treatment from their indignant townsmen; they 
were hooted and pelted in the streets, and in some in- 
stances received a coat of tar and feathers. The fol- 
lowing placard proscribing an importer is an example of 
the " warnings " tacked up in public places : 

WILLIAM JACKSON, 

an IMPORTER ; at the 

BRAZEN HEAD, 

North side of the TOWN-HOUSE, 

and OPPOSITE the TOWN PUMP, in 

Corn-Hill, BOSTON. 

It is desired that the SONS, and 

DAUGHTERS of LIBERTY, 

would not buy any one thing of 

him, for in so doing they will bring 

Disgrace upon theniselves, and their 

Posterity for ever and ever. AMEN, 

The citizens of Boston bitterly resented the presence 
of the troops. Samuel Adams published a series of 
letters, signed " Vindex," in which he argued that it 
was unlawful to maintain a standing army, in time of 
peace, without the consent of Parliament, which con- 
sent was virtually a permission given by the people 
themselves through their representatives; as the Amer- 



I770] BOSTON MASSACRE S3 

icans were not represented in that body, the estabHsh- 
nient of troops in their midst was, therefore, not only 
illegal, but tyrannical. Under the circumstances it is 
remarkable that seventeen months passed without a more 
serious outbreak than jeers and insults to the soldiers 
by the rougher class of men and boys, and an occasional 
street brawl, but ill-feeling finally culminated in a serious 
riot known as the Boston Massacre. The trouble began 
on March 2, 1770, in a quarrel between a soldier and 
a workman at the rope-walk which was followed by a 
street fight between several soldiers and laborers. Com- 
plaints were made to the authorities, but no action was 
taken and the excitement and irritation increased. On 
the evening of the fifth, a gathering of lawless boys and 
older street-brawlers began shouting insults at a sentinel 
stationed in King street, who had aroused their ill-will 
by striking a boy for insolence to an officer passing 
through the street. The sentinel being hard pressed 
called for help. Captain Preston, officer of the guard, 
with a file of soldiers hastened to his relief. The crowd 
were well aware that it was against the law for the 
officer to order his men to fire without the authority of 
a civil magistrate, and they felt little respect for this 
show of force. Their numbers increased, and pelting 
the soldiers with snow-balls and sticks, they pressed upon 
them shouting insults and daring them to fire upon un- 
armed men. The exasperated soldiers accepted the chal- 
lenge and fired, killing four and wounding seven. The 
alarm bell was rung, and the people rushed into the 
streets increasing the tumul^. A more serious disturb- 
ance was averted by the timely arrival of Hutchinson, 
the acting governor. From the balcony of the State- 
house he addressed the excited populace urging them to 
return quietly to their homes and, expressing the deepest 



54 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1770 

regret for the occurrence, promised that justice should 
be done. He at once began an investigation which lasted 
far into the night. 

The next morning a great town-meeting was held in 
Faneuil Hall. A committee of fifteen, including Samuel 
Adams, was appointed to wait upon the governor and 
demand the immediate withdrawal of the troops. Hutch- 
inson, surrounded by the council and crown officials, re- 
ceived them in the State-house, and in reply to their de- 
mands declared that he had no authority to remove the 
troops, as the order must be issued by the commander-in- 
chief. General Gage. The ranking officer, Colonel Dal- 
rymple of the 14th, was present and stated that he would 
receive an order from no one but General Gage ; neverthe- 
less he would meet the wishes of the people by sending 
the 29th to Castle William, as he was aware that the gen- 
eral had contemplated doing so. In the meantime the 
town-meeting had adjourned to the Old South Meeting 
House. On their return to the meeting, Samuel Adams, 
walking uncovered at the head of the Committee, as he 
passed through the narrow lane left by the great throng 
in the street, bowed to the right and left, murmuring: 
*' Both regiments or none ; both regiments or none." The 
town-meeting, upon receiving the report, determined that 
both regiments must go. When the shout *' Both regi- 
ments must go ! " rang through the crowded room, it was 
caught up by the people in the streets who, now under- 
standing the watchword Adams had given them, raised a 
mighty cry, " Both regiments or none ! " A committee of 
seven was appointed to return the reply of the people to 
the governor; it was headed by the wealthy young 
merchant John Hancock, but, as before, Samuel Adams 
was their spokesman. Hutchinson defended his position, 
and in reply Adams said : " It is well known that, acting 



1770] "SAM ADAMS'S REGIMENTS" 55 

as governor of the Province, you are by its Charter the 
commander-in-chief of the miHtary forces within it; and 
as such the troops now in the capital are subject to your 
orders. If you, or Colonel Dalrymplc under you, have 
the power to remove one regiment, you have the power to 
remove both ; and nothing short of their total removal will 
satisfy the people or preserve the peace of the Province. 
A multitude highly incensed now await the result of this 
application. The voice of ten thousand freemen demands 
that both regiments be forthwith removed. Their voices 
must be respected, their demands obeyed. Fail not, then, 
at your peril to comply with this requisition ! On you 
alone rests the responsibility of this decision ; and if the 
just expectations of the people are disappointed, you must 
be answerable to God and your country for the fatal con- 
sequences that must ensue. The committee have dis- 
charged their duty, and it is for you to discharge yours. 
They wait your final determination." The governor, 
being unsupported by the alarmed officials present, was 
finally obliged, most unwillingly, to yield, and the com- 
mittee retired with the assurance that both regiments 
would be sent to Castle William. Within a week they 
were quartered in the harbor, and Lord North ever after 
spoke of the 14th and 29th as " Sam Adams's regiments." 

Quiet was restored by the withdrawal of the troops, 
and the Puritan conscience asserted its sway. The trial 
of Captain Preston and the soldiers engaged in the affray 
was delayed for seven months in order that excitement 
should be allayed and a calmer judgment decide their case. 
They were defended by two distinguished young lawyers 
of the patriot party, John Adams and Josiah Quincy ; all 
the accused were acquitted save two soldiers who were 
sentenced to a slight punishment. 

On the day of the Boston Massacre Lord North intro- 



56 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1770 

duced in the House of Commons the promised bill for the 
repeal of all duties placed by the Townshend act except 
that on tea. This bill was not in response to petitions from 
the colonists, but to appeals from British merchants and 
manufacturers who were most anxious for a resumption 
of trade with America. By the bill a drawback of a shil- 
ling a pound was allowed upon tea exported to America, 
and as the duty placed was but three pence a pound the 
colonists were benefited to the extent of nine pence a 
pound. The advocates of the measure considered that the 
Americans should be satisfied by obtaining cheaper tea, 
and by the aid of the " king's friends " the bill was passed 
in April, 1770. 

In all the colonies there had been more or less trading 
with England, in spite of agreements and warnings, and 
the merchants were now sorely tempted to resume com- 
mercial relations, as all business suffered severely from 
the restrictions imposed. New York had been more faith- 
ful to its engagement than any other city, but it now 
yielded to the exigencies of trade and broke the non-im- 
portation agreement, sending orders to England for all 
goods desired, except tea. This act caused great indigna- 
tion throughout the country ; the letters announcing the 
decision of the merchants were torn in pieces in Boston 
and in Princeton burnt by the students assembled in black 
gowns on the campus. As New York v/as the principal 
seaport, her act rendered futile the plan of non-importa- 
tion, and trade was very generally resumed with England, 
save in the importation of tea. 

During the year following English officials in America, 
by unjust exactions, unlawful arrests and unwarranted 
interference in local affairs, constantly aroused ill-feeling 
among the people. Legislatures were frequently dissolved 
by the governors, or convened at places other than the 



1772] BURNING OF THE GASPEE 57 

capitals to the detriment of public business. In North 
Carolina, under the tyrannical rule of Governor Tryon, 
there was an uprising among the hardy frontier men, 
resulting in a battle at Alamance (May 16, 1771), when 
two hundred of their number were killed and wounded, 
and six were subsequently hung for treason. In Rhode 
Island the revenue acts were enforced by an eight-gun 
schooner, the Gaspee. Her commander, Lieutenant Dud- 
dingston, stopped and searched every vessel entering 
Narragansett Bay, and seized goods thought to be smug- 
gled, while his men when on shore-leave aroused great 
indignation by their lawlessness. As their complaints 
were unheeded by those in authority and Duddingston's 
course upheld, the people undertook their own relief. 
The Gaspee, in chasing a suspected vessel, was lured near 
a shoal and ran aground. That night (June 9, 1772) she 
was attacked by a party of men in eight boats, her com- 
mander and crew captured and put ashore, and the vessel 
set on fire and totally destroyed. Although the English 
government offered large rewards, no evidence could be 
obtained against those engaged in this enterprise. When 
the assembly met the governor announced his instructions 
to send the offenders, on their arrest, to England for trial. 
" Then," answered Chief-justice Stephen Hopkins, " for 
the purpose of transportation for trial, I will neither 
apprehend any by my own order, nor suffer any execu- 
tive officers in the colony to do it." 

The king's determination that the governor and judges 
of the commonwealth should be paid by the crown and 
thus be made entirely independent of the people impelled 
Massachusetts to take action : " Is Life, Property and 
everything dear and sacred to be now submitted to the 
decision of pensioned judges. . . To what a state of In- 
famy, Wretchedness, and Misery shall we be reduced, if 



58 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1772 

our Judges shall be prevailed upon to be thus degraded to 
Hirelings, and the Body of the people shall suffer their 
free constitution to be overturned and ruined . . , Let 
us converse together upon this most interesting Subject, 
and open our minds fully to each other. Let it be the 
topic of conversation in every social club. Let every town 
assemble. Let Associations and Combinations be every- 
where set up to consult and recover our just Rights." 
Thus wrote Samuel Adams, and he proceeded to carry 
out a long-cherished scheme : the " Committee of Corre- 
spondence." The idea had originated, however, not with 
Adams, but with that militant preacher, the Rev. Jonathan 
Mayhew, who, ten years earlier, had written to Otis : 
" Cultivating a good understanding and hearty friendship 
between these colonies appears to me so necessary a part 
of prudence and good policy that no favorable opportun- 
ity for that purpose should be omitted . . . you have heard 
of the cominunion of churches. . . ; while I was thinking 
of this, the great use and importance of a coiiiniiinion of 
colonies appeared to me in a strong light." In the Boston 
town-meeting held November 2, 1772, Samuel Adams 
moved " that a committee of correspondence be appointed, 
to consist of twenty-one persons, to state the rights of the 
colonies, and of this province in particular, as men, as 
Christians and as subjects ; to communicate and publish 
the same to the several towns in this province and to the 
world, as the sense of this town, with the infringements 
and violations thereof that have been, or that from time 
to time may be, made ; also requesting of each town a free 
communication of their sentiments on the subject." The 
committee was appointed and reported on the twentieth, 
and before the year closed eighty towns had responded to 
their appeal. Throughout Massachusetts there now ex- 
isted a body, in touch with the people, independent of 



1773] TEA SENT TO AMERICA 59 

official authority, ever able to assist and advise and pre- 
pared for immediate and united action. In the following 
March Virginia, under the lead of Patrick Henry and 
Richard Henry Lee, voted to establish intercolonial Com- 
mittees of Correspondence. Throughout the country the 
movement spread and its influence increased ; " the action 
of Boston," says Frothingham, " proved the beginning 
of the first national party of the country." The English 
government might yet have averted rebellion by a wise 
concession to existing conditions, a judicious letting alone, 
a slight show of interest in the welfare of the colonies; 
but at this critical period that fatuous monarch George 
HI. determined to enforce the tax on tea and by thus 
asserting the supremacy of the crown trample under foot 
the liberties of a free people. 

The unfortunate condition to which the East India 
Company was reduced by the refusal of the Americans to 
buy tea offered a ready excuse for the king's unwise 
course. Seventeen million pounds of tea had accumu- 
lated in its warehouses, and the company was on the 
verge of bankruptcy. To relieve its financial embarrass- 
ment Parliament authorized the company to export tea 
to America without payment of the English duties ; by 
this means tea could be sold more cheaply in the colonies 
than in England. It was confidently expected that the 
Americans would purchase when the price was even less 
than that paid for tea smuggled from Holland. The colo- 
nial agents in London asserted that the colonists were 
not contending for a cheaper article but for political 
rights, and that the scheme would fail ; to which Lord 
North replied: "It is to no purpose making objections, 
for the king will have it so. The king means to try the 
question with America." 

The news that ships with cargoes of tea were to be 



6o A UNITED RESISTANCE [1773 

sent to the principal American ports aroused intense in- 
dignation throughout the country. The Committees of 
Correspondence of Boston and neighboring towns, acting 
in concert, issued a circular, stating that the arrival of the 
tea " was more to be dreaded than plague and pestilence." 
At Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Charleston great 
public meetings were held, and the people demanded that 
the agents, appointed by the East India Company to re- 
ceive the tea, should resign their commissions. All except 
those at Boston complied, for it was an occasion when dis- 
cretion seemed the better part of valor, but as two of the 
governor's sons were among the consignees at Boston 
they were probably encouraged by their nearness to the 
chief authority. It was promptly decided in a Boston 
town-meeting that the tea should not be landed, and the 
committee of correspondence communicated this decision 
throughout the province and to the other colonies. In 
reply letters of sympathy and encouragement poured in 
upon her, and the brave little town determined, in defense 
of constitutional liberty, " to try the question " with the 
king. 

On November 28, 1773, the Dartmouth sailed into 
Boston harbor, the first of the tea ships to arrive. Al- 
though it was the Puritan sabbath, a committee waited 
upon the owner, Benjamin Rotch, and obtained a prom- 
ise from him that he would not enter the vessel at the 
Custom House until Tuesday. On Monday a great town- 
meeting was held, and as Faneuil Hall could not accom- 
modate the great numbers present they adjourned to the 
Old South Meeting House. It was decided unanimously 
that the tea should be sent back to England and without 
payment of duty. Captain Hall of the Dartmouth was en- 
joined not to land the tea, and to make im.possible any at- 
tempt to do so secretly a guard of twenty-five armed men 



1773] LANDING OF THE TEA RESISTED 6i 

was each night stationed at the wharf. At the town-meet- 
ing on Tuesday the consignees in reply to the demand of 
the people stated that they could not return the tea to Eng- 
land, but were willing to store it and wait directions from 
their " constituents." This opportunity to notify the Eng- 
lish government the colonists declined. During the meet- 
ing the sheriff of Suffolk presented a proclamation from 
the governor ordering: " Each of them there unlawfully 
assembled, forthwith to disperse, and to surcease all 
further unlawful proceedings, at their utmost peril." This 
communication was greeted with hisses and a vote to con- 
tinue the sitting. Resolutions were passed forbidding 
ship-owners to import or bring any tea from Great Britain 
until the tax was repealed, under penalty of being deemed 
an enemy to the country ; in case of an attempt to bring 
tea into the colony the ships would be prevented from 
landing, by force if necessary, and the tea would be re- 
turned to the place from whence it came. It was ordered 
that these resolves be printed and copies sent to New York 
and Philadelphia, to every seaport in Massachusetts and 
to the English government. Within a few days two more 
tea-ships arrived and were lined up with the Dartmouth 
in order that all three might be under surveillance. Mean- 
while beacon fires were laid on the surrounding hills and 
watchmen were stationed in the church belfries ready to 
give the signal to the surrounding country-side, should a 
forcible attempt be made to land the tea. During these 
anxious days there was a constant succession of town- 
meetings. The people were now confronted by certain 
legal difficulties : the ship's cargo must be entered at the 
Custom House within twenty days after arrival, or the 
vessel was subject to confiscation. With the tea on board, 
the Dartmouth could not sail, as the custom-house of- 
ficials refused to issue clearance papers until her entire 



62 A UNITED RESISTANCE [1773 

cargo was discharged ; and the governor stationed two 
vessels of the IJritish fleet at the entrance of the harbor, 
with orders to fire upon any vessel attempting to go to 
sea without a proper permit. As the twentieth day ap- 
proached, December 17, 1773, anxiety deepened; Rotch 
must obtain his clearance papers, or the officials would 
seize the ship and, protected by the guns of the fleet, suc- 
ceed in landing the tea. On the sixteenth the greatest 
town-meeting ever known was held in the " Old South " ; 
over seven thousand people gathered in and about the 
building; they were quiet but determined. Hutchinson 
had gone to his country seat at Milton, and thither Rotch 
was dispatched to obtain, if possible, a permit for the ves- 
sel to sail, for the governor held the supreme authority in 
the colony. Hour after hour passed, while the assembled 
people waited patiently, and it was candle light when Rotch 
returned and reported that the governor refused the pass, 
as the vessel had not properly cleared. Then arose Samuel 
Adams and announced : " This meeting can do nothing 
more to save the country." At this signal a shout was 
heard from the porch, a warwhoop sounded, and some 
forty or fifty men disguised as Mohawk Indians and sup- 
plied with hatchets passed toward the water front. A 
great crowd followed them to Griffin's wharf and watched 
in utter silence as the " Mohawks " boarded the ships, 
broke open the chests of tea, three hundred and forty in 
all, and tossed the contents into the harbor. There was 
no interference by the war-ships, and when the work was 
accomplished the people quietly dispersed. This bold act, 
so successfully carried out, aroused great enthusiasm 
throughout the country. When the tea-ships arrived at 
New York and Philadelphia they were ordered to turn 
back, and the captains complied rather than face the con- 
sequences of an attempt to land their cargoes. At Charles- 



1774] RETALIATORY MEASURES 63 

ton, the vessel was seized by the revenue officers at the 
expiration of the twenty days' limit, and as no one v^ould 
buy the tea the entire invoice, two hundred and fifty-seven 
chests, was stored and three years later was sold by the 
Legislature, and the proceeds applied to the public service. 
When the news of the " Boston tea-party " was re- 
ceived in England there was great excitement and in- 
dignation ; it seemed incredible that the Province of Mas- 
sachusetts should thus defy the power of the empire. 
Boston, that hot-bed of sedition, must be brought by 
stringent measures to respect the supreme authority ; a 
severe punishment must be meted out to her. One mem- 
ber of Parliament voiced the opinion of many, when he 
remarked : " The town of Boston ought to be knocked 
about their ears and destroyed . . . You will never meet 
with proper obedience to the laws of the country until you 
have destroyed that nest of locusts." Lord North brought 
forward in Parliament five retaliatory measures, and they 
were soon passed. When we consider that these laws 
were decreed by a nation whose pride had been its defense 
of constitutional liberty, we can realize the decadence of 
English politics at that period. The first act is known as 
the Boston Port Bill. It closed the port of Boston; no 
vessel was to be allowed, after the first day of June, to 
enter or leave the harbor until the town indemnified the 
East India Company for the tea destroyed and should, 
further, satisfy the king that in future the people would 
render due obedience to the laws. Marblehead was made 
a port of entry in place of Boston, and Salem was desig- 
nated the seat of government. The second known as the 
Regulating Bill practically abrogated the charter of Mas- 
sachusetts. The king was empowered to appoint the gov- 
ernor, the council and the judges of the Supreme Court; 
the governor was to appoint all other officers of the gen- 



64 A UNITED RESISTANCE [i774 

eral government, military, executive and judicial; the 
sheriffs he appointed were to select the jurors, a duty that 
had previously been discharged by the selectmen. To the 
people were left only the election of the assembly or lower 
house of the legislature and of the town officials. But 
more serious than all else, that fundamental feature of 
their free government the town-meeting, could only be 
held twice a year and for the purpose of electing officers 
and no other subject could be discussed without permis- 
sion of the governor. The third act provided that any 
magistrate, revenue officer or soldier in Massachusetts, 
indicted for a capital offence, should be taken to England 
for trial. The fact was ignored that Captain Preston 
and the soldiers engaged in the Boston Massacre had re- 
ceived a fair trial and most lenient treatment. The fourth 
bill provided for quartering troops in Boston and through- 
out the province of Massachusetts. The fifth known as 
the Quebec Act related more particularly to Canada and 
was an excellent provision for that province. It greatly 
facilitated the assimilation of the French population with 
their English conquerors, for it granted the free exercise 
of the Roman Catholic religion throughout Canada. It 
affected the colonists by shocking the intense Puritanism 
of New England by the nearness of an established Cathol- 
icism, and by the extension of the Canadian boundary to 
the Ohio River, giving the law effect within the western 
territory claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 
York and Virginia. 

These arbitrary and unjust measures were not carried 
through Parliament without opposition. Barre, Fox, Con- 
way and other friends of America spoke bravely in her 
defense and in opposition to the course the king and his 
ministers were determined to pursue. One of the great- 
est speeches ever heard in Westminster was delivered on 



1774] EDMUND BURKE'S PLEA FOR REPEAL 65 

April 19, 1774, when Edmund Burke seconded a motion 
to repeal the tax on tea payable in America. He could 
not turn the tide, but he spoke plainly : " You will force 
them? Has seven years' struggle been yet able to force 
them ? O, but it seems * we are in the right,' ' the tax is 
trifling'... No man ever doubted that the commodity 
of tea could bear an imposition of three-pence. But no 
commodity will bear three-pence, or will bear a penny, 
when the general feelings of men are irritated and two 
millions of people are resolved not to pay. The feelings 
of the colonies were formerly the feelings of Great Brit- 
ain. Theirs were formerly the feelings of Mr. Hampden 
when called upon for the payment of twenty shillings. 
Would twenty shillings have ruined Mr. Hampden's for- 
tune ? No ! but the payment of half-twenty shillings, on 
the principle it was demanded, would have made him a 
slave. . .tell me, what one character of liberty the Amer- 
icans have, and what one brand of slavery they are free 
from, if they are bound in their property and industry, 
by all the restraints you can imagine on commerce, and at 
the same time are made pack-horses of every tax you 
choose to impose, without the least share in granting 
them. When they bear the burdens of unlimited monop- 
oly, will you bring them to bear the burdens of unlimited 
revenue too? The Englishman in America will feel that 
this is slavery — that it is legal slavery, will be no com- 
pensation, either to his feelings or his understanding. . . 
Ask yourself this question, Will they be content in such 
a state of slavery? If not, look to the consequences. Re- 
flect how you are to govern a people, who think they 
ought to be free, and think they are not. Your scheme 
yields no revenue; it yields nothing but discontent, dis- 
order, disobedience ; and such is the state of America, that, 
after wading up to your eyes in blood, you could only end 



66 A UNITED RESISTANCE [i774 

just where you begun; that is, to tax where no revenue is 
to be found, to — my voice fails me ; my inclination in- 
deed carries me no farther — all is confusion beyond it." 
Lord Chatham, who by illness had been prevented from 
taking any part in public affairs, now appeared in the 
House of Lords, feeble though he was, to protest against 
the bill for quartering troops upon the town of Boston. 
He said : " The Americans had almost forgot, in their 
excess of gratitude for the repeal of the Stamp Act, any 
interest but that of the mother country ; there seemed an 
emulation among the different provinces who should be 
most dutiful and forward in their expressions of loy- 
alty . . . This . . . was the temper of the Americans, and 
would have continued so, had it not been interrupted by 
your fruitless endeavors to tax them without their con- 
sent. But the moment they perceived your intention was 
renewed to tax them, under a pretense of serving the East 
India Company, their resentment got the ascendant of 
their moderation, and hurried them into actions contrary 
to law, which, in their cooler hours, they would have 
thought on with horror; for I sincerely believe the des- 
troying of the tea was the effect of despair... It has 
always been my received and unalterable opinion, and I 
will carry it to my grave, that this country had no right 
under heaven to tax America. It is contrary to all the 
principles of justice and civil polity, which neither the 
exigencies of the state, nor even an acquiescence in the 
taxes, could justify upon any occasion whatever. . . In- 
stead of adding to their miseries, as the bill now before 
you most undoubtedly does, adopt some lenient measures 
which may lure them to their duty. Proceed like a kind 
and affectionate parent over a child whom he tenderly 
loves, and, instead of those harsh and severe proceedings, 
pass an amnesty on all their youthful errors, clasp them 



1774] GENERAL GAGE ARRIVES AT BOSTON 67 

once more in your fond and affectionate arms, and I will 
venture to affirm you will find them children worthy of 
their sire." 

General Gage who was selected to carry into effect the 
Boston Port Bill was made Governor of Massachusetts, 
and additional regiments were sent to Boston to enforce 
his authority. He was in England at the time and imme- 
diately set sail. Arriving at Boston he entered the town 
on May 17, 1774, and was received with every mark of 
respect due to his position as military governor of the 
province ; but his errand was to end in disaster ; to cost 
England the loss of her American colonies ; and to humble 
the pride of her stubborn king. 



CHAPTER V 

A CONTINENTAL QUESTION 

When the passage of the Boston Port Bill was known 
in America the colonies north and south rallied to the 
support of Massachusetts, for it was felt that she suffered 
in the common cause. The Virginia Assembly, always 
foremost in its cordial sympathy, appointed the first day 
of June a day of fasting and prayer when all should " im- 
plore the Divine interposition to avert the heavy calamity 
which threatened destruction to their civil rights, with the 
evils of civil war, and to give one heart and one mind to 
the people firmly to oppose by all just and proper means 
every injury to American rights." For this act the gov- 
ernor dissolved the assembly, but undaunted they met, 
as on previous occasions, at the Raleigh Tavern. There 
they expressed not only their sympathy with Boston but 
proposed the calling of a congress, composed of delegates 
from each colony, to consider their common peril, a plan 
suggested by the "Sons of Liberty" in New York. Pro- 
fessor Sloane tells us that *' from the constant use of the 
phrase ' the whole continent,' to express general action, 
came the fine adjective so long significant of union — 
continental." I shall now use it, as from this time on it 
expresses the conditions of American political life; we 
must henceforth consider their course as that of one 
people. Josiah Quincy, Jr., voiced the accepted opinion 
of his day when he wrote: "The Americans have one 

68 



1774] BOSTON PORT BILL 69 

common interest. Natural allies, they have published 
to the world professions of esteem and confidence, aid 
and assistance ; they have pledged their faith of mutual 
friendship and alliance. Not only common danger, bond- 
age and disgrace, but national truth and honor, conspire 
to make the colonists resolve to stand or fall together." 
The strength of this tie was not realized in England. 
Lord North contemptuously alluded to the union of the 
colonies as a " rope of sand " : " It is a rope of sand that 
will hang him," remarked an American. It was perhaps 
impossible for any nation of the Old World, even England 
with a constitutional government founded upon more 
liberal principles than any other in Europe, to fully com- 
prehend this intense love of liberty : " The Saxon genius 
of liberty and law which English America inherited from 
the parent state," had grown to be a mighty force amid 
the free, untrammeled life of the New World. 

Throughout the country, June i, 1774, was very gen- 
erally observed as a day of fasting and prayer; services 
were held in the churches ; muffled bells were tolled ; 
flags were placed at half-mast, and copies of the bill with 
wide black borders were distributed. At twelve o'clock 
noon General Gage placed a cordon of warships across 
the entrance of Boston harbor and the port was closed; 
not only was all communication by sea cut off, but boats 
were forbidden to transport merchandise from point to 
point within the bay. When the fishermen of Marblehead 
sent an offering of dried fish to Boston it had to be car- 
ried thirty miles in order to enter the city. The colonies 
now offered more substantial expressions of good-will than 
resolutions of sympathy. South Carolina furnished two 
hundred barrels of rice and promised eight hundred more ; 
North Carolina sent two thousand pounds in money ; 
Virginia forwarded money and one hundred and thirty- 



7o A CONTINENTAL QUESTION ti774 

seven barrels of flour; from every New England town 
came great droves of sheep and cattle, quantities of fish, 
rye, flour, pease, oil, wood, — whatever they were able to 
furnish. And it was sadly needed. A seaport without com- 
merce, trade stagnant, men idle about the streets, the once 
bus}^ and prosperous city was in sore straits, and as the 
months passed the distress increased. The supplies poured 
into Boston were received by the Donation Committee, 
and the letters addressed to this committee by the dif- 
ferent colonies form a remarkable collection: all breathe 
a spirit of liberty and union, as is shown by the following 
brief extracts. From New Hampshire the patriots wrote : 
" This is considered by us not as a gift or an act of char- 
ity, but of justice, — as a small part of what we are in 
duty bound to communicate to those truly noble and pa- 
triotic advocates of American freedom who are bravely 
standing in the gap between us and slavery, defending the 
common interests of a whole continent, and gloriously 
struggling for the cause of liberty." From Connecticut : 
" Most assuredly rely upon it that the people in all this 
part of the country are to a man resolutely determined 
to yield you all the assistance in our power, and are will- 
ing to sacrifice all that is dear and valuable to us rather 
than suffer the patriotic inhabitants of the town of Bos- 
ton to be overwhelmed by the adversaries of American 
liberty." From Rhode Island : " We look upon your 
troubles as our own, and shall not fail to exert ourselves 
for your future support, in case you are not soon relieved ; 
being fully convinced that at all events you must stand out 
against the present arbitrary and cruel proceedings, or 
all North America must inevitably fall a sacrifice to the 
most oppressive and brutal tyranny that ever disgraced 
the most savage nation upon the face of the earth." From 
New Jersey : '* We rely under God upon the firmness and 



1774] THE COMMITTEE OF DONATIONS 71 

resolution of your people, and earnestly hope they will 
never think of receding from the glorious ground they 
stand upon, while the blood of freedom runs in their 
veins." From Maryland : '* Could we remain a moment 
indifferent to your sufferings, the result of your noble 
and virtuous struggle in defence of American liberties, 
we should unworthily share in those blessings which (un- 
der God) we owe in great measure to your perseverance 
and zeal in support of our common rights, that they have 
not ere now been wrested from us by the rapacious hand 
of power." And from Georgia : " The manly conduct of 
the brave people of Boston and of Massachusetts Bay, to 
preserve their liberty, deserves not only the applause and 
thanks of all America, but also the imitation of all man- 
kind." Each colony wrote in a similar strain, and the 
people of Boston were strengthened and cheered by this 
ready help and sympathy. The Committee of Dona- 
tions replied to the letter of Pennsylvania : " Through 
God's goodness, the hearts of our brothers have been 
opened for our relief. They have enabled us to bear up 
under oppression, to the astonishment of our enemies ; 
and we trust we shall be enabled still to remain firm, and 
never desert the glorious cause of our country.'' 

General Gage had at his command some thirty ships 
of war in the harbor and seven regiments of British reg- 
ulars; on September 5, 1774, he began to fortify Boston 
Neck, the only means of communication with the town by 
land ; but with all this display of power he was unable 
to overawe the people. It was impossible to enforce the 
" regulating act * ' ; town-meetings continued to be held, 
and the " mandamus counsellors," so called because ap- 
pointed by the king's writ of mandamus, were not allowed 
to take their seats. At Great Barrington and at Worces- 
ter crowds surrounded the court-houses and compelled 



>j2 A CONTINENTAL QUESTION ti774 

the judges to resign ; they were not interfered with at 
Boston, but having opened court they were powerless to 
act, as the jurors refused to take the oath. At Plymouth 
a highly respected citizen accepted his appointment as 
counsellor, but the next Sunday his townsmen arose and 
left the church when he took his seat among them, and 
he speedily announced his resignation. Opposition was 
encountered on every side. When General Gage under- 
took to build barracks for the troops the carpenters 
refused to do the work, and the soldiers by many annoy- 
ances were made to feel the animosity of the people. 
Tories were everywhere roughly treated and in many 
instances received coats of tar and feathers. The gov- 
ernor threatened to use force, but hesitated. It was evi- 
dent that the people were energetically preparing for 
such a contingency. They had already established a pro- 
visional government under the following circumstances. 
The governor had authorized the election of members to 
the assembly, but before the day of meeting, October ist, 
he prorogued them. The delegates, however, determined 
to assemble ; they met at Salem, resolved themselves into 
a Provincial Congress and elected John Hancock presi- 
dent. They then adjourned to Concord. They dissolved 
on December lo and reassembled at Cambridge on Febru- 
ary I, 1775, remaining in session until spring. This Pro- 
vincial Congress instituted the " Committee of Safety " 
and directed it to store arms and ammunition in safe 
places, to organize the militia and to appoint military 
officers. Men were now drilling on every village green, 
and companies of " minute men " were formed, prepared 
to march at the shortest notice. On the fifth of March, the 
anniversary of the Boston IMassacre, a commemorative 
service was held in the Old South Church. Adams and 
Hancock were present and also some forty British officers 



1775] DR. JOSEPH WARREN'S ADDRESS 73 

of the army and navy who were given seats near the pul- 
pit that they might hear plainly. So great was the crowd 
that the orator of the day, that eloquent patriot Dr. Joseph 
Warren, was obliged to enter the building by means of a 
ladder placed before a window back of the pulpit. As we 
read his glowing speech, we recognize the bravery of the 
man who dared to deliver it at such a time and in such a 
place. " Our streets," he said, " are again filled with 
armed men, our harbor is crowded with ships-of-war ; 
but these cannot intimidate us; our liberty must be pre- 
served ; it is far dearer than life ; we hold it dear as our 
allegiance ; we cannot suffer even Britons to ravish it from 
us . . . Our country is in danger. Our enemies are numer- 
ous and powerful ; but we have many friends, and, deter- 
mining to be free, Heaven and earth will aid the resolu- 
tion. You are to decide the important question, on which 
rests the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn . . . 
My fellow-citizens, I know you want not zeal or fortitude. 
You will maintain your rights or perish in the generous 
struggle. However difficult the combat, you will never 
decline it, when freedom is the prize. An independence 
of Great Britain is not our aim. No, our wish is that 
Britain and the colonies may, like the oak and the ivy, 
grow and increase together. But if these pacific measures 
are ineffectual, and it appears that the only way to safety 
is through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your 
faces from your foes, but will undauntedly press forward, 
until tyranny is trodden under foot." 

New England did not stand alone in a determination 
to resort to arms if necessary. George Washington, in 
the Virginia convention, said : " I will raise one thousand 
men, subsist them at my own expense, and march my- 
self at their head for the relief of Boston." Another 
Virginia gentleman wrote : " Let us remember that with 



74 A CONTINENTAL QUESTION [i774 

the sword our fathers obtained their constitutional rights, 
and by the sword it is our duty to defend them." The 
middle colonies presented the weakest point of colonial 
resistance. New York and Pennsylvania had a larger 
foreign admixture than was to be found elsewhere; 
naturally these men of old-world ideas did not cherish 
the principles of constitutional liberty as did their English 
neighbors. True the Hollander had bravely contended 
for freedom, but in the New World long years of peace 
and prosperity appear to have had a deadening effect 
upon the Dutch character, and in New York the strong 
commercial instinct of the people had been strengthened 
by a constantly increasing and expanding commerce. In 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey the large Quaker commu- 
nities exerted a wide influence for peace. All these ele- 
ments tended to weaken the efforts of the patriots in the 
middle colonies. 

Having reviewed colonial conditions for the ten months 
during which the Boston Port Bill was enforced, we re- 
turn to the early summer of 1774 and the proposed Con- 
tinental Congress, which was immediately recognized as 
a wise provision for the general welfare. All the colonies 
except Georgia appointed delegates. Georgia, though 
not represented, promised concurrence in their decisions 
and there was no doubt of her good-will. 

The election of the Massachusetts delegates was a 
victory for that astute political leader, Samuel Adams. 
The governor convened the assembly at Salem, on June 
7th. When they met, Adams proceeded cautiously to 
carry out a cleverly devised scheme, skilfully managed to 
lull the suspicions of the Tories and to win over the doubt- 
ful by persuasion. Having ascertained the exact number 
upon whom he could rely, he acted promptly. On the 
morning of June 17th he ordered the doors of the as- 



1774] SAMUEL ADAMS'S CLEVER RUSE 75 

sembly chamber to be locked, directed the door-keeper to 
permit no one to enter or leave the room and then brought 
forward a resolution providing for the election of dele- 
gates to attend the Continental Congress. The House 
was at once in commotion and the Tories endeavored to 
leave the hall, whereupon Adams took the key from the 
frightened attendant and placed it in his own pocket. 
One of the Tories pretended to be ill and was permitted 
to retire ; once outside, he hastened to the governor and 
informed him of these high-handed proceedings. Gage 
quickly wrote an order dissolving the assembly and dis- 
patched it by his secretary. On arriving at the hall the 
secretary demanded admission, but the majority voted 
not to unlock the door ; as he could not obtain the desired 
audience, the secretary proceeded to read the governor's 
message to the crowd that had quickly collected. Mean- 
while the assembly elected the delegates and voted to pro- 
vide five hundred pounds for their expenses, the money 
to be raised by assessing every town in the province, and 
as Massachusetts had been requested to appoint the time 
and place of meeting it was voted that the congress 
should convene at Philadelphia, on September ist. Then, 
having accomplished their object, they submitted with a 
good grace to the governor's decree which they had de- 
clined to receive. 

Recognizing that Samuel Adams was the life and soul 
of the patriot party in Alassachusetts, General Gage at- 
tempted to win him to the king's cause by liberal offers 
of honors and emoluments. Colonel Fenton carried 
these proposals to Adams and also a warning that if he 
persisted in the course he was pursuing he would be de- 
ported to England and tried for treason. Adams listened 
quietly, but answered with indignation : " Sir, I trust I 
have long since made my peace with the King of kings. 



76 A CONTINENTAL QUESTION [1774 

No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon 
the righteous cause of my country. Tell Governor Gage 
it is the advice of Samuel Adams to him no longer to in- 
sult the feelings of an exasperated people." 

The first Continental Congress assembled in the Car- 
penters' Hall at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. There 
were present fifty-five delegates representative of the 
best class in the colonies and of both the Tory and the 
patriot party. Among those whose distinguished abili- 
ties had made them prominent in political life were 
Samuel Adams, John Jay, Patrick Henry, George Wash- 
ington, Richard Henry Lee, John Adams, John Rutledge, 
Philip Livingston, John Dickinson, Roger Sherman, 
Stephen Hopkins, William Livingston, Christopher Gads- 
den, Thomas Gushing and Edward Rutledge. Peyton 
Randolph, of Virginia, was elected chairman. The early 
days of the session were disturbed by a false report that 
General Gage had ordered the troops to fire upon citizens 
of Boston. Gage had sent a detachment of soldiers on 
September ist to seize a quantity of powder belonging to 
the province, which was stored at Charlestown : this oc- 
casioned the rumor. All New England was aroused; 
within twenty-four hours 20,000 men were marching 
from different points toward Boston. They turned back 
when the truth became known, but their prompt response 
greatly encouraged the patriots. 

As there was no means of ascertaining the relative im- 
portance of the colonies it was decided that in determin- 
ing questions each colony should have one vote. Al- 
though determined to maintain their rights, the congress 
had no desire to provoke a rupture with England, and 
the loyalist Joseph Galloway enlisted a large support for 
a scheme, by which the colonies were to be united under 
a president-general appointed by the king, and a grand 



1774] FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS -j-j 

council to be chosen every three years by the colonial 
assemblies, the British Parliament having the right to re- 
vise the acts of this body and they in turn having author- 
ity to veto British statutes relating to the colonies. This 
plan was discussed, but failed of approval. While all 
desired to end the quarrel and restore tranquillity to the 
country, the majority were faithful to republican prin- 
ciples. In the beginning Patrick Henry in a brilliant 
speech reviewed the wrongs of the colonists, the necessity 
of union and the importance of the constitutional ques- 
tions that they were risking their all in defending. On the 
17th, Congress received the " Suffolk Resolves," which 
had been adopted at a great meeting of delegates from 
the towns of that county, which included Boston. These 
resolutions were drafted by Joseph Warren, who, in the 
absence of Samuel Adams, had the direction of affairs. 
They declared that a king who breaks his compact with 
his people forfeits their allegiance, pronounced the Regu- 
lating Act unconstitutional and rejected all appointments 
made under it ; advised all towns to elect officers for the 
militia, proposed a provincial congress and stated boldly 
that if General Gage arrested any one for political reasons 
they in return would seize the crown officers and hold 
them as hostages. The Suffolk Resolutions were ap- 
proved by Congress and a reply was returned expressing 
sympathy and a determination to uphold the action of 
Massachusetts ; and should an attempt be made to execute 
the late acts of Parliament by force, " in such a case," 
they declared, " all America ought to support them in 
their opposition." 

The Americans hoped by adopting stringent commer- 
cial restrictions to arouse in England an opposition to 
the course pursued by Parliament, for the powerful in- 
fluence of the commercial classes had forced concessions 



78 A CONTINENTAL QUESTION [i774 

from Parliament on previous occasions. They therefore 
decided upon commercial non-intercourse with England, 
and after several days' discussion formed an association 
for that purpose. This agreement consisted of fourteen 
articles ; not only was the importation, exportation and 
consumption of merchandise from England prohibited, 
but the slave trade was to be wholly discontinued. A 
committee was to be appointed in every county, city and 
town to have charge of the measure and was authorized 
to publish in the press the names of those who failed to 
comply with the agreement ; the Committees of Corre- 
spondence were made inspectors of custom-house returns. 
The only article not restricted was rice, a concession 
which South Carolina won by the withdrawal of two of 
her delegates from congress, a policy which that State 
adopted on subsequent occasions ; when the unconditional 
export of their staple commodity was allowed the se- 
ceders returned. The agreement was signed on October 
20th by fifty-two members of Congress and this act " may 
be considered," says Hildreth, " as the commencement of 
the American Union." For nearly two years this agree- 
ment was spoken of as " The Association of the United 
Colonies." 

Of the state papers issued by this congress Lord 
Chatham remarked in the House of Lords : " When your 
lordships look at the papers, when you consider their de- 
cency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their 
cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must 
declare and avow, that, in all my reading and observation, 
— and it has been my favorite study : I have read Thu- 
cydides, and have studied and admired the master states 
of the world, — that for solidity of reasoning, force of 
sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a com- 
plication of circumstances, no nation or body of men can 



1774] DECLARATION OF RIGHTS 79 

stand in preference to the general congress at Philadel- 
phia." These papers consisted of a Declaration of Rights, 
and addresses to the king and to the people of England, 
of Canada and of the American colonies. The Bill of 
Rights specified eleven acts of Parliament that should 
be repealed in justice to the Americans. In the address 
to the people of Great Britain occurs this declaration : 
" You have been told that we are impatient of government 
and desirous of independency. These are calumnies. 
Permit us to be as free as yourselves, and we shall ever 
esteem a union with you to be our greatest glory and our 
greatest happiness. But if you are determined that your 
ministers shall wantonly sport with the rights of man- 
kind; if neither the voice of justice, the dictates of law, 
the principles of the constitution or the suggestions of 
humanity, can restrain your hands from shedding human 
blood in such an impious cause, we must then tell you 
that we will never submit to be hewers of wood or draw- 
ers of water for any ministry or nation in the world." 

In the address to the king they signified their willing- 
ness to provide for the support and security of their civil 
governments and in time of war to grant supplies and 
raise forces for defense. In the address to Canada she 
was invited to send delegates to the next Continental 
Congress, which was appointed to convene May 10, 
1775. Six days before the close of the session the Penn- 
sylvania Assembly entertained the members of Congress 
at a dinner given at the City Tavern. On that occasion 
all present arose and drank in response to the toast — 
" May the sword of the parent never be stained with the 
blood of her children." Congress dissolved October 
26th, It had sat with closed doors, but the addresses 
put forth occasioned eager discussion by Whigs and 
Tories throughout the country. 



8o A CONTINENTAL QUESTION [ijlS 

When Parliament reassembled after the Christmas 
vacation (January, 1775) the state of affairs in American 
at once claimed attention. In both chambers their cause 
was ably defended. Lord Chatham in the House of 
Lords moved an " address to his Majesty for the imme- 
diate removal of his troops from Boston " ; and Burke, 
in the Commons, made his famous appeal for the Con- 
ciliation of the Colonies. Of the British army in America 
Chatham said : " You may call them an army of safety 
and of guard ; but they are, in truth, an army of im- 
potence and contempt; and, to make the folly equal to 
the disgrace, they are an army of irritation and vexa- 
tion . . . Their force would be most disproportionately 
exerted against a brave, generous, and united people, 
with arms in their hands, and courage in their hearts: 
three millions of people, the genuine descendants of a 
valiant and pious ancestry, driven to those deserts by 
the narrow maxims of a superstitious tyranny. And is 
the spirit of persecution never to be appeased? Are the 
brave sons of those brave forefathers to inherit their 
sufferings, as they have inherited their virtues ? " 

Burke brought an array of facts and figures to appeal 
to reason and common sense, but he also warned his 
countrymen and plead for their distant brothers. " In 
effect," he said, " we suffer as much at home by this 
loosening of all ties, and concussion of all established 
opinions, as we do abroad. For, in order to prove that 
the Americans have no right to their liberties, we are 
every day endeavoring to subvert the maxims, which 
preserve the whole spirit of our own. To prove that 
the Americans ought not to be free, we are obliged to 
depreciate the value of freedom itself ; and we never seem 
to gain a paltry advantage over them in debate, without 
attacking some of those principles, or deriding some of 



1775] ADOPTION OF STRINGENT MEASURES 8i 

those feelings, for which our ancestors have shed their 
blood . . . An Englishman is the unf ittest person on 
earth to argue another Englishman into slavery . . . Let 
the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights as- 
sociated with your government; they will cling and 
grapple to you; and no force under heaven would be of 
power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it 
once be understood that your government may be one 
thing, and their privileges another ; that these two things 
may exist without any mutual relation; the cement is 
gone; the cohesion is loosened; and everything hastens 
to decay and dissolution." 

But wise words and affecting appeals were alike un- 
availing ; Parliament only proceeded to adopt more strin- 
gent measures. An act was passed forbidding the fisher- 
men of New England from fishing off the Banks of New- 
foundland, thus striking a severe blow at one of Massa- 
chusetts' most flourishing industries. Massachusetts was 
declared in a state of rebellion and it was voted to 
increase the British force at Boston to ten thousand 
men. Gage was to be superseded by William Howe 
with Major-general Sir Henry Clinton and John Bur- 
goyne to assist him. Lord Howe, brother of the gen- 
eral, was made admiral of the fleet in America. Late 
in the winter Gage received orders to arrest Samuel 
Adams and John Hancock and send them to England 
for trial. As the assembly of New York had refused 
to adopt the non-importation scheme of the " Associa- 
tion of the United Colonies " and had also declined to 
elect delegates to the Second Continental Congress, Eng- 
land hoped to divide the colonies north and south by a 
loyal province. But in this expectation she was disap- 
pointed, for notwithstanding the strong Tory element 
the patriot party carried the day. Under the lead of 



82 A CONTINENTAL QUESTION [i77S 

Philip Schuyler and the Livingstons they called a con- 
vention and elected the congressional delegates. 

In England the friends of America were unsuccessful in 
every effort for her relief. Lord Chatham introduced a bill 
(February, 1775) for the repeal of the eleven acts speci- 
fied by the Continental Congress; it was defeated at the 
first reading. It was generally believed in England that 
the Americans would submit. It was asserted that 
farmers and backwoodsmen with no regular army, a 
scant supply of arms and ammunition, not even an organ- 
ized general government, would never have the temerity 
to enter into a war with the foremost nation on the globe. 
It was almost impossible for a European to realize how 
favorable to the development of a free and happy people 
were the conditions of life in the New World. The term 
peasant had no application to the hardy, industrious, in- 
dependent American educated in the public school and 
the town-meeting. The absence of the extremes of opu- 
lence and poverty and the level of comfort maintained by 
all classes promoted social equality. The religious train- 
ing of the Puritans was conducive to right living. 
America possessed a higher average of intelligence, a 
more general public spirit, a purer social life, a more 
orderly class of " common people," than were to be found 
in any other nation at the close of the eighteenth century. 

In March, 1775, Benjamin Franklin sailed from Eng- 
land, where for ten years he had been pleading the cause 
of a disaffected people; acting as agent for Massachu- 
setts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia, and often 
considered an " ambassador for all America." This re- 
markable man was born in Boston (January 6, 1706) in 
a house on Milk Street, in the shadow of the Old South 
Meeting House. That he was one of seventeen children ; 
that his father was a soap boiler and tallow candle maker ; 



1775] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 83 

that the boy was put to dipping candles when ten years 
old ; that his passion for reading induced his father 
to apprentice him, at thirteen, to his brother James, a 
printer ; that they disagreed, and that Benjamin ran away 
to Philadelphia when seventeen years old, landing there 
nearly penniless, is a well-known story to all. And the 
incident of his walking up Market Street, with a roll 
under each arm and munching the third, is as familiar to 
every American child as the hatchet and cherry tree of 
the Washington fable. But this penniless lad was des- 
tined to become a distinguished scientist, a shrewd and 
clever man of affairs, a great diplomatist, a profound 
thinker, a brilliant wit, a convincing preacher upon 
morals and conduct, a delightful writer and a man of 
such pleasing personality that he won a host of friends 
in three nations ; all who met him being impressed by his 
ability, sincerity and kindly nature and by the breadth 
and liberality of his mind. When, after the passage of 
the Stamp Act, he was summoned before the House of 
Commons to be questioned upon the colonial difficulties, 
Burke declared : " It appeared to be an examination of a 
master by a parcel of school-boys." He wrote constantly 
for the press, and his witty satire presented the cause of 
the colonists in the most convincing manner. But one 
man, however great, could not stay the march of events, 
and fearing arrest if he remained in England, Franklin 
quietly sailed for Philadelphia. All hope of reconcilia- 
tion was past, and Green the English historian thus places 
the responsibility: " The king was now supreme. . . The 
ministry was, in fact, a mere cloak for the direction of 
public affairs by George himself." The immense patron- 
age controlled by the crown " was persistently used for 
the creation and maintenance in both Houses of Par- 
liament of a majority directed by the King himself ; and 



84 A CONTINENTAL QUESTION [1775 

its weight was seen in the steady action of such a major- 
ity. It was seen yet more in the subjection to which the 
ministry that bore Lord North's name was reduced. 
George was, in fact, the minister during the years of its 
existence ; and the shame of the darkest hour of English 
history Hes wholly at his door." 



CHAPTER VI 
THE REVOLUTION 

At sunset on the evening of April 19, 1775, a division 
of the British army, worn with fatigue, encamped for the 
night upon Bunker's Hill, protected by the guns of the 
fleet in Boston harbor. These troops had been secretly 
dispatched long before dawn for the purpose of seizing 
the military stores which the Americans had collected at 
Concord and incidentally to arrest Samuel Adams and 
John Hancock who were lodging at Lexington. Paul 
Revere's ride had been their undoing. They had encoun- 
tered the " embattled farmers " at Concord, and had they 
not received reinforcements at Lexington, they would 
have been unable to make good their retreat ; as it was, 
nearly three hundred of their number were lying wounded 
or dead by the roadside. The first battle of the Revolu- 
tion had been fought, and the news was being carried by 
hard-riding messengers to every part of New England 
and through all the colonies to the far South. Within a 
week the British army was shut up in Boston never to 
leave it until General Howe evacuted the city in the fol- 
lowing year (March 17, 1776). 

The military force besieging Boston had gathered in 
hot haste on receiving the news from Concord and Lex- 
ington, and the numbers were increased two months later 
after the battle of Bunker's Hill (June 17). It was a 
body of troops lacking proper equipment : arms were of 

85 



86 THE REl/OLUTION [1775 

various patterns, clothes were unsuitable, but more im- 
portant than all else was the scant supply of gunpowder. 
All were animated by a lofty purpose ; they possessed high 
courage and those good fighting qualities that appear 
to be a natural inheritance of the English race. A great 
general was needed who should discipline these eager 
patriots into an army; and this was the task the Con- 
tinental Congress assigned to George Washington who, 
by an unanimous vote, was appointed commander-in-chief 
of the American forces on June 15, 1775. 

The life of Washington is so familiar that it is unneces- 
sary to review it, but the greatness of the man demands a 
tribute, however brief. The perfection of Washington's 
moral character seems to place him above all other heroes 
of history on a lonely mountain peak to which they cannot 
climb. Animated by a lofty patriotism, a high sense of 
duty and a wise understanding, he possessed also execu- 
tive power so splendidly developed that he was always 
equal to the demands of the occasion, and able to achieve 
amid the most adverse conditions. It has been well said 
that ** Washington's best mental gift was a sound and dis- 
criminating judgment. The balance of his mental and 
moral powers was truly superb. Neither passion nor 
interest could blind him when it came to deliberating be- 
tween men or methods." 

The Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia 
in what is now known as Independence Hall, May 10, 
1775. All the thirteen colonies were represented. Peyton 
Randolph was again elected president, but shortly after- 
ward returned to Virginia to preside over the House of 
Burgesses, when John Hancock was unanimously chosen 
to succeed him. Among the new members were Benjamin 
Franklin and George Clinton of New York, and on June 
2 1st, Thomas Jefferson took his seat as a delegate from 



1775] FINAL EFFORT FOR PEACE 87 

Virginia in place of Randolph. Upon this body devolved 
the defence of the colonies. Still hesitating at a final 
severance from the mother country they adopted an 
address to the king, which was moved by Jay and sec- 
onded by Dickinson, This they dispatched to England 
by Richard Penn, an ardent loyalist, a peace-loving 
Quaker and a descendant of William Penn. They also 
addressed the people of Great Britain, of Ireland and of 
Canada. On the first of August, Congress adjourned to 
September 5th. On November ist, it was learned that 
Penn's mission had failed, as the king refused to notice 
the petition of the Continental Congress, as " beneath 
the dignity of the government to acknowledge an as- 
sembly which had no constitutional or legal existence." 
But George III. made public answer, when on August 
23d he issued a proclamation which declared the col- 
onies in a state of armed rebellion, called upon civil and 
military officers and all good citizens to assist in its 
suppression and threatened with severe punishment all 
who should aid or abet the rebels. 

On receiving news of this proclamation Congress pro- 
ceeded with renewed energy to the establishment of civil 
government and the organization of the war. Supplies 
were voted for the army, and its numbers increased ; and 
a committee was appointed to correspond with foreign 
powers. A postal service was inaugurated throughout the 
colonies and Franklin appointed postmaster-general. Re- 
sentment was deepened by the progress of hostilities in 
America and by the war measures adopted in England. 
The hiring of twenty thousand German troops to 
strengthen the army of invasion turned many a wavering 
loyalist to the patriot cause. The employment by George 
III. of foreign mercenaries against his own subjects was 
viewed with disgust by many Englishmen. The Duke of 



88 THE REVOLUTION [1776 

Grafton said to the king: "Your majesty will find too 
late that twice the number will only increase the disgrace 
and never effect the purpose." But, as usual, the " king's 
friends " stood firm, and the measure was carried through 
Parliament. " Every means," wrote the king, " of dis- 
tressing the Americans must meet with my concurrence." 
An act was passed authorizing the seizure of all American 
ships and cargoes and of the vessels of all nations trad- 
ing with American ports. British captains were also em- 
powered to impress the crews of captured American ships 
to serve against their country. In return, the Continental 
Congress granted permission for the equipment of pri- 
vateers to prey upon British commerce, and on March 
13, 1776, declared " all British vessels whatsoever lawful 
prize." On April 6th, Congress voted to throw open 
American ports to the commerce of all the world, " not 
subject to the king of Great Britain." This established 
free trade, as English custom-houses were abolished and 
no provision made to replace them. In May, John 
Adams moved that state governments be organized in 
" each one of the united colonies, where no government 
sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs had as yet 
been established." After two days of debate the motion 
was adopted on the tenth. Congress had already selected 
a flag by increasing the red and white stripes in an old 
English merchant flag to thirteen to represent the col- 
onies and retaining on a blue field the crosses of St. 
George and St. Andrew. This flag was first raised on 
New Year's day, 1776, over Washington's headquarters 
at Cambridge.^ 

The Tory party in America was large and influential. 
When Howe evacuated Boston, eleven hundred Tories 

1 The present flag of the United States was adopted June 14, 1777. 



1776] "COMMON SENSE" 89 

sailed with him for Halifax. Among these refugees were 
several Episcopal clergymen and a great number of crown 
officials and of those belonging to the wealthy and aris- 
tocratic class. Throughout the colonies were many who 
dreaded civil war and were honest and sincere in their 
attachment to the great nation of which they formed a 
part. 

During the months while Congress was providing for 
the safety of the country and by so doing exercising sov- 
ereign authority, the patriot press urged a complete sever- 
ance from Great Britain as desirable and necessary; and 
far-seeing men were everywhere proclaiming the same 
truth. In January appeared a pamphlet written by 
Thomas Paine entitled " Common Sense." He advocated 
independence and presented his arguments in a vivid and 
caustic style, interspersed with impassioned pleading: 
" O ! ye that love mankind ! Ye that dare oppose, not 
only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth ! Every spot 
of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom 
hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have 
long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, 
and England has given her warning to depart. O ! re- 
ceive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for man- 
kind." Over one hundred thousand copies of this pam- 
phlet were sold, and Washington testified to " its work- 
ing a powerful change in the minds of many men." The 
desire for independence was general throughout New 
England, but in the Middle and Southern colonies a 
powerful Tory sentiment prevailed ; nevertheless day by 
day amongst all classes the idea of independence grew 
and strengthened in preparation for the birth of a nation. 
Samuel Adams was the earliest advocate of independence ; 
John Adams, Franklin, Henry, Jefferson, Washington 
and other distinguished patriots more slowly reached the 



90 THE REVOLUTION [1776 

same conclusion. Dickinson whose " Farmer's Letters " 
had been influential in arousing the people in defense of 
their rights was throughout the leader of the conserv- 
atives. A great number of people felt that they were 
" opposing an administration and not overturning a gov- 
ernment." But the logic of events dominated the situa- 
tion. In electing delegates to a congress to protect their 
common interests the people of the thirteen colonies com- 
mitted a national act, for the assembled delegates legis- 
lated for the whole country. The sovereign power was 
thus vested in the Continental Congress and that body 
in its national capacity raised troops, provided for de- 
fense, voted money as required for public purposes, 
opened the ports to foreign commerce, authorized the 
formation of state governments and adopted a flag. 

In the early spring of 1776 members of Congress began 
to request their assemblies to instruct them regarding 
their course upon the question of independence. The first 
to take action was North Carolina, which colony declared 
for Independence in April, a result hastened by the threat- 
ened invasion of the British army under Sir Henry Clin- 
ton. In May Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia 
voted to sever the bond with England. Massachusetts 
requested the people of that province to express their 
sentiments in town-meetings. The response was a series 
of declarations most nobly patriotic. The following is 
from the address of Boston : " The whole United Colo- 
nies are upon the verge of a glorious revolution. We 
have seen the petitions to the king rejected with disdain. 
For the prayer of peace he has tendered the sword ; for 
liberty, chains ; for safety, death. Loyalty to him is now 
treason to our country. We think it absolutely impracti- 
cable for these colonies to be ever again subject to or de- 
pendent upon Great Britain, without endangering the 



1776] INDEPENDENCE DEBATED IN CONGRESS 91 

very existence of the State. Placing, however, un- 
bounded confidence in the supreme councils of the Con- 
gress, we are determined to wait, most patiently wait, till 
their wisdom shall dictate the necessity of making a dec- 
laration of independence. In case the Congress should 
think it necessary for the safety of the United Colonies 
to declare them independent of Great Britain, the inhabi- 
tants, with their lives and the remnant of their fortunes, 
will most cheerfully support them in the measure." 

On June 7th in the Continental Congress Richard 
Henry Lee of Virginia offered the motion which was 
seconded by John Adams : — " That these United Col- 
onies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the 
British crown, and that all political connection between 
them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved. 

" That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effect- 
ual measures for forming foreign alliances. 

" That a plan of confederation be prepared and trans- 
mitted to the respective colonies for their consideration 
and approbation." 

The matter was debated for several days. No speech 
upon the subject is extant, but Jefferson wrote a sum- 
mary of the proceedings wherein he says : " It appear- 
ing in the course of these debates that the colonies of 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- 
land and South Carolina, were not yet matured for falling 
from the parent stem, but that they were fast advancing 
to that state, it was thought most prudent to wait awhile 
for them." As a result of this decision the further con- 
sideration of the subject was postponed until July ist. 

In order to facilitate matters a committee of five was 
elected to prepare a declaration — Thomas Jefferson, John 



92 THE REVOLUTION [1776 

Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert 
R. Livingston. A committee of one from each colony 
was also chosen to arrange a plan of confederation, and a 
committee of five to prepare treaties to be proposed to 
foreign nations. During the interval the political situa- 
tion was warmly debated, but with happy results, for all 
the colonies fell into line except New York. Notwith- 
standing the efforts of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, 
Robert R. Livingston and George Clinton, it was impossi- 
ble to gain a majority for decisive action and New York 
failed to instruct her delegates. There was no doubt 
that the popular vote was for independence, and on June 
29th an article in the Pennsylvania Evening Post sug- 
gested as a suitable name for the new nation " The United 
States of America." 

The congressional committee requested their chairman 
to draft a declaration of independence and Jefferson, 
thereupon, wrote that memorable document ; he submitted 
it to the criticism of John Adams and of Franklin and 
each made slight verbal alterations. The committee unan- 
imously accepted it, and on June 28th it was presented 
to Congress and laid upon the table. The consideration 
of Lee's motion declaring independence was resumed on 
July I St. On that day there were fifty-one members 
present who represented the highest life of the colony 
in the merchant, planter, lawyer, jurist, clergyman and 
scholar : an able and honorable body of men animated by a 
sincere love of country and faithful to a high ideal of polit- 
ical freedom. The principal speeches in the debate were 
an eloquent appeal for acceptance by John Adams and the 
reply of John Dickinson who advocated delay. Dickinson 
said : " We ought not to commit our country upon an 
alternative when to recede would be infamy, and to per- 
sist might be destruction... Before such an irrevoca- 



1776] THE VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE 93 

ble step shall be taken, we ought to know the disposition 
of the great powers ; and how far they will permit any 
one or more of them to interfere. The erection of an 
independent empire on this continent is a phenomenon in 
the world ; its effects may be immense, and may vibrate 
round the globe. The formation of our government, and 
an agreement in the terms of our confederation, ought to 
precede the assumption of our station among sovereigns. 
When this is done, and the people perceive that they and 
their posterity are to live under well-regulated constitu- 
tions they will be encouraged to look forward to inde- 
pendence, as completing the noble system of their political 
happiness. The objects nearest to them are now envel- 
oped in clouds, and those more distant appear confused; 
the relation one citizen is to bear to another, and the 
connection one State is to have with another, they do 
not, cannot know. The boundaries of the colonies ought 
to be fixed before the declaration. The unlocated lands 
ought also to be solemnly appropriated to the benefit of 
all. Upon the whole, when things shall thus be delib- 
erately rendered firm at home and favorable abroad, then 
let America, attollens hiimeris famam et fata nepotiun, 
bearing up her glory and the destiny of her descendants, 
advance with majestic steps and assume her station 
among the sovereigns of the world." 

For the consideration of the question Congress had re- 
solved itself into a committee of the whole and the vote 
taken at the close of the day, before the committee arose, 
stood nine colonies for independence. The vote of Dela- 
ware was a tie, as one of her delegates was absent, and 
South Carolina and Pennsylvania voted in the negative. 
The final vote in regular session of Congress was taken 
the next day, July 2nd. The absent member from Dela- 
ware was present and voted in the affirmative and a like 



94 THE REVOLUTION [1776 

result was obtained for Pennsylvania by the absence of 
Dickinson and Morris who, unwilling to take the decisive 
step, remained away and thus left a majority to vote for 
independence. The South Carolina delegates decided to 
accept the measure, and as the New York delegation had 
no authority to act they were excused from voting. 
Twelve colonies, therefore, adopted Lee's motion declar- 
ing that they were " free and independent States " and 
" absolved from all allegiance to the British crown." 

On the following day John Adams wrote to his wife, 
Abigail Adams : " Yesterday the greatest question was 
decided which ever was debated in America, and a 
greater, perhaps, never was nor will be decided among 
men. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure 
that it will cost to maintain the Declaration and support 
and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I 
can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see 
that the end is worth more than all the means and that 
posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even al- 
though we shall rue it, which I trust in God we shall not." 

On the third. Congress considered the Declaration pre- 
sented by the committee. A clause censuring George III. 
for encouraging the slave trade was stricken out and Jef- 
ferson himself has explained the reason : " The clause 
reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of Africa was 
struck out in complaisance to South Carolina and 
Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the impor- 
tation of slaves, and who, on the contrary, wished to 
continue it. Our Northern brethren also, I believe, felt 
a little tender under those censures ; for though their 
people had very few slaves themselves, yet they had been 
pretty considerable carriers to others." 

The amended declaration was adopted July 4, 1776. 
On the 9th it was presented to the newly-elected as- 



1776] THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 95 

sembly of New York. Under the leadership of Jay the 
assembly unanimously adopted it and resolved to support 
it " with their fortunes and their lives." On July 19th 
Congress ordered the Declaration engrossed on parch- 
ment with the title " The Unanimous Declaration of the 
Thirteen United States of America," and on August 2nd 
the engrossed copy was signed by the members present. 

The Declaration was everywhere received with demon- 
strations of joy. Church bells were rung, drums beaten, 
cannon fired and the American flag carried in proces- 
sions. In many places the king's effigy and the royal 
emblems were publicly burned and in New York the 
patriots pulled down the leaden statue of George III., 
which stood in Bowling Green, in order that it might be 
melted into bullets. There were bonfires, illuminations 
and toasts innumerable. The people assembled in public 
places to hear read the proclamation of their freedom and 
services of prayer and thanksgiving in the churches were 
not omitted. Samuel Adams wrote of the universal joy: 
" The people, I am told, recognize the resolution as 
though it were a decree promulgated from Heaven." 

The American people were now, under God, masters of 
their own destiny ; the sovereign authority had passed 
from the crown to the people. Each colony had its own 
independent existence in the body politic and yet all were 
joined in a national bond, — an arrangement that required 
a nice adjustment of parts to the whole, but unhappily this 
could not be accomplished without friction. Local pride 
was strong, but a national feeling was naturally of slow 
growth; it could not at once spring into life. On July 
I2th the committee of thirteen reported to Congress arti- 
cles of confederation drafted by John Dickinson. These 
were not entirely satisfactory ; long debates followed ; 
difficulties thickened arising from the progress of the 



96 THE REVOLUTION [i777 

war, and it was sixteen months before Congress finally 
adopted a plan of confederation. This was transmitted 
to the States November 15, 1777; by July following 
nine States had accepted it, but owing to a controversy 
over the disposal of the western lands the action in some 
of the States was delayed. Notwithstanding the necessity 
for some form of stable government it required more than 
three years to secure the ratification of the Articles of 
Confederation by all the States. This was finally accom- 
plished March i, 1781, and the United States from that 
day became one among the nations. During this time 
Congress exercised the supreme authority and under its 
direction the war was carried forward to success. 

In reviewing the period of the Revolution we recog- 
nize that the most serious difficulties encountered by the 
Americans arose from their own political situation. They 
had more to fear from the condition of affairs in Amer- 
ica than they had from British power or superior military 
skill. The war was not popular in England among the 
masses and enlistments were so inadequate that in order 
to obtain recruits George III. determined to hire German 
troops. The contest was commonly spoken of as the 
" King's War," and in Parliament a small but powerful 
group, including the most distinguished English states- 
men, were in sympathy with the principles for which the 
Americans were contending and embarrassed the govern- 
ment on all occasions. The difficulty of conducting a war 
across the barrier of the Atlantic can scarcely be com- 
prehended at the present day when science has almost 
eliminated distance. Moreover England's neighbors were 
both powerful and jealous. France, burning to avenge 
the loss of Canada ; Spain, determined to regain Gibral- 
tar; Prussia, indignant at the treatment the great Fred- 
erick had received from George III. ; and Holland 3 rival 



1777] THE SITUATION IN AMERICA 97 

in trade ever on the lookout for commercial advantages. 
All the trading nations were eager for the destruction 
of the monopolies established by the English navigation 
laws and welcomed the prospect of the opening of Amer- 
ican ports to the world's commerce. 

The Americans proved their valor throughout the war. 
Howe, shut up in Boston for a year, was finally obliged 
to evacuate the city ; the English were outgeneraled at 
Trenton and Princeton ; and after the battle of Mon- 
mouth Clinton's well-equi])ped troops, driven across New 
Jersey, were glad to reach the shelter of New York ; 
Burgoyne's fine army surrendered at Saratoga ; and Corn- 
wallis, hemmed in by the French fleet, was forced to a 
like fate at Yorktown. The Americans did not lack the 
pluck to fight nor want for skilful generals ; their diffi- 
culties which it seems incredible that they could have 
surmounted were, as has been said, the result of the po- 
litical situation. The colonies were united to resist Eng- 
land, but were jealous of the powers of Congress, and this 
sentiment was to a great extent responsible for the short 
terms of enlistment by which Washington's plans were 
constantly jeopardized. The people feared a standing 
army and objected to a large force being organized by 
direction of Congress as placing too great power in the 
hands of that 1)ody. The troops, enlisted under the laws 
and regulations of their own States, were unwilling to 
conform to the decrees of the national assembly. They 
objected to their commanding officers being appointed by 
Congress, desiring to serve under their own state officers. 
Their independent spirit proved a hindrance to military 
discipline, for obedience was not natural to the American 
born and the social equality of officers and men increased 
the difficulty. As the short terms of enlistment were 
subversive of all discipline Congress voted a bounty to 



98 THE REVOLUTION [i777 

those who enlisted for the war and to every private at the 
end of his term of service one hundred acres of land and 
to all officers larger land grants. Finally Washington 
was given authority over all officers under the rank of 
Brigadier-General. 

Another source of annoyance to Washington was the 
arrival of foreign officers who expected to receive im- 
portant positions in the army and who too often aroused 
resentment and jealousy among the Americans. There 
were several who rendered valuable services, notably 
Generals Kosciusko and Pulaski and Barons De Kalb and 
von Steuben. Very dear to Washington was Lafayette, 
that gallant young Frenchman who abandoned the pleas- 
ures of the court and the society of his child-wife to 
become at nineteen a major-general in the American 
army. 

From first to last there was the pressing need of 
money; the people had so long fought British taxation 
that they were loath to permit any authority outside the 
state governments to exercise that right and there was 
the still deeper conviction of the danger of concentrat- 
ing power in military hands. So inadequate were the re- 
sources of the treasury that contempt for the depreciated 
currency became embodied in a phrase long in use to 
express utter lack of value — " not worth a continental." 

It is not surprising that the troops were constantly 
refusing to reenlist, that they abandoned the ranks and 
returned home to gather in the harvests and that it be- 
came necessary to draft and to offer large bounties. 
Lafayette wrote to his wife : " Human nature has its 
limits. No European army would suffer the tenth part 
of what the Americans suffer. It takes citisens to sup- 
port hunger, nakedness, toil and the total want of pay 
which constitute the condition of our soldiers, the hardi^ 



1778] FRENCH TREATY AND ALLIANCE gg 

est and most patient that are to be found in the world." 
A distinguished EngHsh historian asserts : " Few braver 
and truer men were ever collected around a great com- 
mander than those who remained with Washington dur- 
ing that dreary winter in Valley Forge." 

America in her isolated position was sorely in need of 
allies, and early in 1776 Congress dispatched Silas Deane 
as a commercial agent to Europe to obtain supplies and 
to make overtures looking toward the establishment of 
friendly relations with England's old enemy, France. He 
was later joined by Arthur Lee, of Virginia, and Ben- 
jamin Franklin. Deane and Lee became involved in com- 
mercial transactions that necessitated their recall. Frank- 
lin remained and was the first American minister at the 
French court. He was extremely popular. Jefferson once 
wrote : " There appeared to me more respect and venera- 
tion attached to the character of Dr. Franklin in France 
than to that of any other person in the same country, 
native or foreign." It has been claimed that even the 
enthusiasm of France for Napoleon never equalled that 
for Franklin. It was to this personal influence that the 
constant assistance of France was largely due. At what 
cost of labor and anxiety of mind Franklin sustained 
American credit, acted as a navy department in behalf 
of her sailors and imprisoned seamen, attended to her 
foreign commercial and banking business, as well as to his 
diplomatic duties, can never be realized. His labors were 
immense and ended only by the treaty of peace. 

After the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga Octo- 
ber 16, 1777, France openly espoused the American cause 
and the French Treaty and Alliance was signed on Feb- 
ruary 6, 1778. France faithfully maintained the treaty 
and America was most fortunate in gaining her assist- 
ance. 

L.OI L'. 



100 THE REVOLUTION [1778 

The friendliness displayed by France for the United 
States was viewed with alarm in England and the con- 
duct of the war aroused extreme irritation. Alluding to 
the employment of Hessians, Chatham declared in the 
House of Lords: "You cannot conquer America... If 
I were an American as I am an Englishman, while a 
foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would 
lay down my arms — never, never, never." With passion- 
ate eloquence he inveighed against employing, as an ally, 
the Indian with his scalping knife. He proposed a plan 
of conciliation which was, to leave the colonies in abso- 
lute control of their affairs but united in a federal bond 
with England. It was rejected by Parliament, and shortly 
after came the news of Burgoyne's surrender, which 
filled the country with alarm and dismay. Parliament 
reassembling after the Christmas vacation entered upon 
a stormy session. Chatham, Burke, Fox, Richmond, 
Conway and other friends of America were united to 
oppose the ministry. At last even the king, though stub- 
bornly declaring for severe measures, was forced to con- 
sent to an attempt at conciliation. On February 17, 1778, 
Lord North presented a bill which was received in com- 
plete silence by the Commons, so amazing were its pro- 
posals when emanating from the prime minister. By it 
the tax on tea was repealed, the act regulating the char- 
ter of Massachusetts was annulled and the right to tax 
America was forever renounced. It was further provided 
that commissioners be at once dispatched to America with 
authority to negotiate a peace and with full powers to 
proclaim an amnesty for all political offenses and to 
suspend the operation of any act of Parliament relating 
to the colonies passed since 1763. Everything was con- 
ceded that had been demanded, but it was too late. The 
triumph at Saratoga had encouraged the expectation of 



1778] BRITISH COMMISSIONERS lox 

success, the French treaty was about to be signed and 
the Americans had no faith in any proposals fathered by 
Lord North, although he declared that he had always 
favored the concessions demanded by them and had but 
carried out the policy of his predecessors and the wishes 
of the king. His published correspondence bears out this 
statement and exhibits his pitiful weakness in the hands 
of his master, George III. 

Charles Fox, Lord Holland's brilliant and profligate 
son, a great statesman, a warm friend of America and 
said to be " the most brilliant and accomplished debater 
the world ever saw," replied to Lord North. He sar- 
castically congratulated him upon attaining to the position 
long held by the Whig party and advocating measures 
for which Burke had pleaded so earnestly three years 
previously. He pertinently asked whether the ministry 
were aware that France had concluded a treaty of alliance 
with the independent States of America. A stormy scene 
followed and Lord North, obliged to reply, answered 
evasively : " that he had no official intelligence on the 
subject." The bill was carried through both houses 
and signed by the king March ii, 1778. The commis- 
sioners arrived in America in June and remained until 
October. The American Congress positively refused to 
treat with them unless Great Britain first acknowledged 
the independence of the United States, but complacently 
ordered Lord North's bill printed and distributed. Be- 
fore returning the commissioners published a manifesto 
addressed to the American people offering the rejected 
terms to each separate State and threatening a severe 
prosecution of the war if their overtures were rejected. 
The only effect of this communication was to excite 
derision. 

The news of the signing of the Treaty of Alliance be- 



I02 THE RErOLUTION [1778 

twcen France and America was promptly met in England 
by a declaration of war. Great Britain also faced the 
prospect of a contest with Spain, for it was stipulated in 
the treaty that Spain should be privileged to join the 
alliance if she so desired. To add to the difficulties of the 
situation Frederick the Great publicly opened the port of 
Dantzic to American cruisers and prohibited Hessian sol- 
diers from passing through his dominions on their way 
to the seaboard. Beset by danger the people of England 
rallied to the support of the government in the prosecu- 
tion of the foreign war: the American contest was a 
different affair, for although rebels the Americans were 
yet kinsmen. The Whigs felt that the cause of liberty in 
England and America was identical and that the triumph 
of liberty in the New World would insure its continuance 
in the Old. The Marquis of Rockingham, leader of the 
party, the Duke of Richmond, General Conway, Lord 
Camden, Fox and other prominent Whigs felt that noth- 
ing short of complete indci)endenco would satisfy Amer- 
ica anil they were anxious to grant her the liberty she 
desiretl. If at peace with America, all the forces of the 
nation could be concentrated for the impending conflict 
which threatened to involve the greater part of Europe, 
for England stood alone, engirt by powerful foes, her 
armies in Aiuerica unsuccessful and clouds of discontent 
and rebellion arising over India and Ireland. In this 
crisis all eyes turned to Chatham as the one statesman 
of sufficient genius and widespread influence to carry the 
country safely, as he had on previous occasions, through 
a period of national peril. 

Lord North urgetl the king to accept his resignation 
and comply with the demand of the nation by placing 
Chatham at the head of the ministry. But the king, 
hating Chatham and the cause of reform he represented. 



1778] LORD CHATHAM'S LAST SPEllCH lo,^ 

and regardless of the safety and welfare of the country, 
was determined to maintain the sway he had so long 
exercised by means of a corrupt political system. Chat- 
ham and the men he would summon to his support would 
never submit to this personal rule : constituti(.)nal govern- 
ment would be respected and upheld. The king wrote to 
Lord North : '* the Opposition would make me a slave 
for the remainder of my days." " Whilst any ten men 
in the kingdom will stand by me I will not give myself 
up to bondage." " I will never put my hand to what 
would make me miserable to the last hour of my life." 
" I will rather see any form of government introduced 
into this island and lose my crown than wear it as a 
disgrace." But the question was destined to be settled 
without the king's aid. Believing that the only means 
of extricating England from her perilous position was to 
concede the independence of America, the Duke of Rich- 
mond announced his intention of moving for the with- 
drawal of all the British naval and military forces in 
America and for the negotiation of a peace on terms 
acceptable to the American Congress. Chatham, who had 
so ably defended the American cause and who had 
pleaded so eloquently for reconciliation, viewed with de- 
spair the proposed dismemberment of the groat empire 
which his genius had created. He still hoped for a federal 
union between England and America, relying on latent 
loyalty in America and on the fact that the French treaty 
was not popular in New England w^here the freedom- 
loving, stern Calvinists viewed with no little alarm an 
alliance with a Catholic and despotic power. 

On April 7, 1778, the Duke of Richmond presented his 
motion in the House of Lords. Chatham, supported by 
his son, William Pitt, and his son-in-law, Lord Mahon, 
was assisted to his seat ; he was swathed to the knees in 



I04 Tin- k'F.l-OLL'TION [i778 

I'laiuK'l ; his suit of rich black velvet ititciusilicHl his pallor. 
" He looked like a dyiu!;- man, yet never was seen a figure 
of more dii;iiity. " lie arose with difficnlty and leaning* 
upon his erntches replied to the Duke of Richmond's ail- 
dress with much of his oKl elo(|uence: " My Lortls," he 
said, " 1 rejoice that the grave has not closed upon me; 
that I am still alive, to lift up my voice against the dis- 
memherment of this ancient monarchy!... Where 
is the man who will tlare to advise it? My Lords, his 
Majesty succeetled to an empire as great in extent as its 
reputation was unsullied. Shall we tarnish the lustre of 
this nation hv an ignominious siu'render of its rights and 
fairest possessions? Shall this great nation, that has 
survived, whole and entire, the Danish depredations, the 
Scottish inroads, the Norman Conquest — that has stood 
the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, now fall 
prostrate before the House of Bourbon?" A little later 
Chatham again arose, vainly attempted to speak and sank 
in a convulsion, vsupported by the arms of those near him. 
I le was carried unconscious from the House and died on 
May iith, in his seventieth year. 

In bis tleatb the king triumphed, for there was no 
statesman oi sufficient power to rally an effective oppo- 
sition. Under the lead of George 111. and Lord North 
events progressed to that memorable day, (October 19, 
1781, when the I'ritish ainiy laid down its arms at Vork- 
tmvn to the music of its bamls playing an old-time tune 
— " The World Turned l^pside Down." 

This great victory filled America with joy and Eng- 
land with ilismay. On receiving the news Lord North 
in great agitation paced the room exclaiming: " O God! 
it is all over! it is all over! " George HI. was still deter- 
mined to defy fate, but the nation was not blind to its 
peril : at war with France, Spain ami Holland, while 



1782] CLOSE or THE REJ'OLUTION 105 

Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Denmark maintained the 
" i.'\.rmed Neutrality," a yet greater danger was in their 
midst. Ireland in 1779 liad raised an army of forty thou- 
sand vohniteers to repel an antieipated attaek by the 
French and Spanish fleets. That danger past and en- 
couraged by the example of America, her able statesmen 
threatened to use this force in an attempt to obtain a 
redress of grievances for their misgoverned country. The 
situation was desperate. Great public meetings were held 
in London demanding " peace with America," while in 
Parliament Burke and Fox in burning words reviewed 
the conduct of the war and assailed the ministry. William 
Pitt, the illustrious son of an illustrious father, brilliantly 
supported them ; Pitt was at this time but twenty-three 
years of age, and Burke declared he was " not merely a 
chip of the old block, but the old block itself." On Feb- 
ruary 22, 1782, General Conway in the House of Com- 
mons moved an address to the king petitioning for the 
discontinuance of the war with the American States ; it 
was defeated by a single vote. On P'ebruary 27th he 
moved for a cessation of the war and the motion was 
carried by a majority of nineteen. Lord North's resigna- 
tion followed. " The blow," says Green, " which had 
shattered the attempt of England to wield an autocratic 
power over her Colonies had shattered the attempt of its 
king to establish an autocratic power over England itself. 
The ministry which bore the name of Lord North had 
been a mere screen for the administration of George the 
Third, and its ruin was the ruin of the system he had 
striven to build up. Never again was the crown to pos- 
sess such a power as he had wielded during the past ten 
years." The king was now forced by circumstances to 
place Lord Rockingham at the head of tlie ministry. 
Among the other members of the Whig cabinet were the 



io6 Tim KRI'OJ.VTION [1782 

Huko of Kichinotul. Lord Sholhuriio. Fox, Conway Lord 
Camden and tin.' Dnkc of Grafton, all of whom had 
bravely advocated the American cause. The Congress of 
the Ihiited States appointed h^anklin. Jay and John 
Adams commissioners to nei^otiate a treaty of peace and 
they met at Taris in the spring'. There were many ques- 
tions to be settled, claims of l-'rance ami Spain to be ad- 
justed and propiKsitions antl counter propositions to be 
considereil. Several months were consumed in the nego- 
tiations ami the provisional articles of the treaty of peace 
between England and the Cnitetl States were not signed 
until November 30 ( i"Sj). \\\ agreement between the dif- 
ferent powers, Spain was granted Morida and remained 
in possession of Louisiana ; Canada, Nova Scotia and 
Newfoundland were retained by L.ngland. but the right 
of the .Americans to fish off the banks of Newfoumlland 
was conceded. An luiglisli writer has said : " Whatever 
might be the importance of .American independence in the 
history of l^ngland it was of UTieqnaled moment in the 
history i.>f the world. If it cripplcil for a while the su- 
premacy of the English nation, it founded the supremacy 
of the English race. From the hour of American Inde- 
pendence the life of the English people has flowed not 
in one current, but in two; and while the older has shown 
Httle signs of lessening, the yoiniger has fast risen to a 
greatness which has changed the face of the world." 



CHAPTER VII 
THE CONFEDERATION 

The five years (1782-1787) intervetiin^- hdwocMi the 
treaty of peace ami the adoption of the Constitution of 
the United States were the formative years o{ the (Gov- 
ernment, and were heset hy so many perils that they have 
become known as the " Critical Period of American 
History." 

A hasty survey of the condition of the country will 
enable us more easily to realize this struggle. The terri- 
tory ceded by the treaty extended frcMu the Atlantic Ocean 
westward to the Mississijipi, and friMU the Great Lakes 
and a line running eastward from them, southward to the 
thirty-first parallel and the southern border of Georgia. 
This great territory was divided among the thirteen 
States, and although state boundaries were not in all cases 
clearly defined, they were afterward adjusted without se- 
rious contention. The greater part of this vast tract was 
a wilderness, nearly the whole population being confined 
to the neighborhood of the Atlantic seaboard, although 
there were a few scattered military posts and small set- 
tlements west of the Alleghanies. The people numbered 
less than four million souls, of whom about 600,000 were 
negro slaves. In the wilderness wandered the ever- 
dreaded foe, the Indian ; and the nearness of Spain in 
Florida and at the mouth of the Mississippi was soon to 
jM-ove a serious menace. The country was exhausted by 

107 



io8 THE CONFEDERATION [1782 

the long struggle through which it had just passed ; it had 
no credit abroad, and an empty treasury at home ; but 
worse than all else, the States which had united to resist 
a common danger, now that it was past, jealously drew 
apart, and the vital defects in the existing government 
were soon apparent. Under these adverse conditions, the 
new nation confronted the future. 

At the close of the war, the people throughout the coun- 
try were aroused to great bitterness of feeling by the re- 
turn of the Refugees, as those Tories were called who had 
sought protection of the British, or withdrawn to a place 
of safety during the war. An article of the treaty pro- 
vided for their safe return, but although thus protected, 
the people were so hostile to them that many fled the 
country, and those who remained had to endure insult 
and persecution, called forth by the most extreme ani- 
mosity. 

Another cause of excitement was the founding of the 
Society of the Cincinnati (April, 1783). The members of 
this order were officers of the Army and Navy and 
Washington was their first President. The objects of the 
Society were: To perpetuate in peace the friendships 
formed in war; as loyal citizens to cherish the union be- 
tween the States; and to provide in case of need for the 
widows and orphans of deceased members. The order 
was to be perpetuated by descent, through the eldest male 
representative of the families of members. French officers 
who had served in the war were admitted to membership, 
and thus the emblem of the order, an eagle of gold, at- 
tached to a blue ribbon edged with white, came to be worn 
at the Court of France. We who at this day are accus- 
tomed to the satisfaction with which the American press 
and society appear to view the transference of the fair 
daughters of the Republic, and their great fortunes, to 



1783] SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI 109 

the keeping of foreigners of rank, can hardly estimate 
the hatred of titles and aristocratic privileges, which pro- 
voked the outcry against the Cincinnati. It was declared 
that the founders intended to create an hereditary aris- 
tocracy in America, a new order of knighthood, and it 
was claimed that the clause permitting foreign member- 
ship would admit of European influences affecting na- 
tional life. Pamphlets were published on the subject and 
the newspapers were filled with letters expressing the 
indignation of the writers ; for, in those days, every 
grievance gave rise to a flood of such literature. So 
deep-seated was the opposition that at the first annual 
meeting Washington prevailed on the Society to abandon 
hereditary membership. The principal objection being 
thus removed, the excitement gradually subsided. 

A question of national importance resulted from that 
westward advance which, beginning before the close of 
the Revolution, has continued until the present day. 
That colonizing spirit, which seems peculiarly English, 
led the early settlers amid incredible hardships and ever- 
present danger from hostile Indians, to penetrate the vast 
wilderness of the West. It is interesting to look some- 
what closely into this movement, for we are told that 
" Without studying this creation of a national domain 
between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi we cannot 
understand how our Federal Union came to be formed." 
This vast country was held by right of conquest from 
the English, or else by right of English charters, by sev- 
eral States and under conflicting claims. Rhode Island, 
New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, however, were not 
claimants, and viewed with distrust the aggrandizement 
of the larger States. After many protests, Maryland 
finally refused to ratify the Articles of Confederation 
unless the States consented to surrender their Western 



no THE CONFEDERATION [1785 

territory to become the common property of the United 
States. This gave rise to much heated discussion, but in 
February (1780) New York decided to cede all her 
claims. In September following Congress recommended 
that all States cede their Western possessions, and a 
month later resolved : " That all such lands ceded should 
be sold in lots to settlers, and the money used for Fed- 
eral purposes, and that, in time. States should be formed 
there and admitted into the Union, with the same rights 
as the original thirteen." On the first of March, 1784, 
Virginia ceded all of her great Western domain, and by 
the spring of 1785 all the States had surrendered their 
Western possessions except North Carolina and Georgia.^ 

Maryland, seeing the probable compliance with her 
demand, on March i, 1781, signed the Articles of Con- 
federation, being the last State to ratify. To quote Mr. 
Fiske : " As it was Massachusetts that took the decisive 
step in bringing on the Revolutionary War when she 
threw the tea into Boston Harbor, so it was Maryland 
that, by leading the way toward the creation of a National 
domain, laid the corner-stone of our Federal Union. 
Equal credit must be given to Virginia for her magna- 
nimity in making the desired surrender. It was New 
York, indeed, that set the praiseworthy example; but 
New York, after all, surrendered only a shadowy 
claim, whereas Virginia gave up a magnificent and 
princely territory, of which she was actually in posses- 
sion." 

The ceded lands were called the Northwest Territory, 
and a plan was soon formed for colonizing a part of this 
vast tract with soldiers of the late war. Congress author- 
ized the sale of 5,000,000 acres, for which 66^ cents 

1 North Carolina ceded her lands in February, 1790; Georgia in 
April, 1802. 



1787] ORDINANCE OF 1787 in 

an acre was paid. One and a half million acres were 
purchased by the Ohio Compan}% which was the first land 
company formed in America. 

It was now necessary to organize a government for 
the Northwest Territory, and this was done by the adop- 
tion of the famous Ordinance of 1787. By it Congress 
declared : " The States to be formed therein shall forever 
remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States 
of America," which was the first authoritative utterance 
regarding secession. By Article VI. of the Ordinance, 
slavery was prohibited forever north of the Ohio River; 
an act that met the approval of the Northern States, but 
only gained the consent of Georgia and South Carolina 
by this saving clause : " Provided always that any per- 
son escaping into the same, from whom labor or service 
is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, 
such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed 
to the person claiming his or her services, as aforesaid." 
That was the first Fugitive Slave Law passed by Con- 
gress. " I doubt," said Daniel Webster, " whether one 
single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modern, has pro- 
duced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting char- 
acter than the Ordinance of 1787." 

About this time, in what is now Tennessee, but was 
then Western North Carolina, the frontiersmen under 
the leadership of one John Sevier, set up a State for 
themselves and called it Franklin. It was never recog- 
nized by Congress, and after a turbulent existence of 
about two years, it fell apart from the weight of internal 
dissensions and outward pressure. 

The bitterness aroused by the Refugees, the excitement 
over the Cincinnati, and the discussions regarding the 
Northwest Territory, simply added to the discontent and 
unrest of the times. The real perils which the young 



112 THE CONFEDERATION [1787 

nation had to face arose from three causes — an empty- 
treasury, a weak government, and the sovereignty of the 
States; for at every step were met those claims of state 
rights which were destined to a final settlement eighty- 
years later by the Civil War. 

After the declaration of Independence, the States had 
gradually organized their governments on a general plan, 
each with a Governor and two Houses or Legislative 
Assemblies. These state Governments were adequate to 
the needs of the States ; it was the general Government, 
the Confederation, whose weakness brought the country 
to the verge of anarchy. Congress consisted of a single 
House, to which delegates were annually sent, and in 
which each State had one vote. It was empowered to 
declare war, make treaties, coin money, borrow money, 
have control of the army and navy, manage Indian 
affairs, and have charge of the postal service. The fatal 
defects in this government were four. First, no action 
relating to foreign affairs, the military or naval force or 
to the national finances could be taken without the assent 
of nine States ; five States could, therefore, defeat legis- 
lation on these important questions. Second, no power 
was conferred upon Congress to collect duties, or regu- 
late foreign commerce. The revenue of the general Gov- 
ernment was thus limited to what it could obtain by 
borrowing, issuing paper money, or by making requisi- 
tions upon the States. Third, the lack of all means of 
enforcing its authority. Congress could make requisi- 
tions upon the States, but if the States neglected to com- 
ply there was no power by which the Government could 
enforce its demands. And, finally. Congress had no 
power to alter or amend the Articles of Confederation. 
A government thus hampered, with uncertain and insuf- 
ficient revenue, with no power to compel respect for its 



1783] THE NEWBURGH LETTER 113 

authority and no means of bettering its condition, must 
naturally drift to anarchy or revolution. 

At the close of the war, the Government was heavily 
indebted to the army for pay long overdue. There was, 
naturally, much discontent among the troops, who found 
they were to be mustered out of service without any im- 
mediate prospect of compensation. The main army was 
encamped at Newburgh, and from there a letter was sent 
forth and circulated through the regiments. It was writ- 
ten by Major John Armstrong, but directly instigated 
by General Gates. A few sentences taken from it will 
denote its character : " My friends, after seven long years 
your suffering courage has conducted the United States 
of America through a doubtful and bloody war; and 
peace returns to bless whom? A Country willing to re- 
dress your wrongs, cherish your worth and reward your 
services? Or is it rather a Country that tramples upon 
your rights, disdains your cries and insults your distress ? 
If you have sense enough to discover and spirit to op- 
pose tyranny, whatever garb it may assume, awake to 
your situation. If the present moment be lost, your 
threats hereafter will be as empty as your entreaties 
now." A copy of this letter fell into the hands of Wash- 
ington, and, calling the officers together, he made a most 
affecting appeal to their honor and patriotism. He said : 
" As I was among the first who embarked in the cause 
of our common Country; as I have never left your side 
one moment, but when called from you on public duty; 
as I have been the constant companion and witness of 
your distress, it can scarcely be supposed that I am in- 
different to your interests." He entreated them " not to 
take any measures which, in the calm light of reason, 
would lessen the dignity and sully the glory they had 
hitherto maintained." " Let me conjure you, in the name 



114 ^^^ CONFEDERATION [1783 

of our common Country, as you value your own sacred 
honor, as you respect the rights of humanity and as you 
regard the mihtary and National character of America, 
to express your utmost horror and detestation of the man 
who wickedly attempts to open the flood-gates of civil 
discord ... By thus determining and thus acting . . . you 
will give one more proof of unexampled patriotism and 
patient virtue, rising superior to pressure of the most 
complicated sufferings.'' Having finished his address, 
he began reading to them a letter from a member of Con- 
gress, bearing on their case, but after a few sentences he 
stopped and put on a pair of spectacles (having never 
before worn them in public), remarking, as he did so: 
" I have grown gray in your service and now find my- 
self growing blind." Which affecting words touched 
every heart. Having concluded the letter, Washington 
withdrew, but the result was no longer doubtful. Resolu- 
tions were passed with declared : " The officers of the 
American Army view with abhorrence, and reject with 
disdain, the infamous propositions contained in a late 
anonymous address to them " ; and that : " No circum- 
stance of distress or danger shall induce a conduct that 
may tend to sully the reputation and glory which they 
have acquired at the price of their blood and eight years 
of faithful service." 

Washington urged upon Congress with great earnest- 
ness the claims of his soldiers, but the best that Congress 
could do was to give them notes bearing interest at six 
per cent. ; soon, alas, to depreciate until they were worth 
but twelve cents on a dollar. The men were disbanded 
and returned quietly to their homes, as \\^ashington 
wrote : " Without a settlement of their accounts and with- 
out a farthing of money in their pockets." There was 
one notable exception to this orderly retirement. Near 



1783] "LEGACY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE" 115 

Philadelphia was stationed a small body of troops, who 
mutinied, marched into the city, surrounded the hall 
where Congress was sitting and noisily demanded their 
pay. Congress, unable to protect itself from insult, fled 
to Princeton. A government fleeing before a small body 
of malcontents was not calculated to inspire respect. In 
fact, the character of Congress had changed since its 
earlier days. The great men who had once constituted 
its strength had gradually withdrawn, as their services 
were required, in some cases, to represent their country 
abroad, or, more often, to assist in organizing the new 
Governments in their own States. 

In June, 1783, the Commander-in-Chief sent to the Gov- 
ernor of each State his last official communication, a cir- 
cular letter, which he called his " Legacy to the American 
People." In this letter Washington discussed the great 
political problems of the hour, with a breadth, wisdom 
and loyalty to great principles that proclaimed the patriot 
and statesman. He pleaded for a more perfect union of 
the States, a sacred regard for public and private justice, 
and a setting aside of all local prejudices, for the ad- 
vantage of the whole people. He pointed out the neces- 
sity for establishing an adequate revenue and an honest 
financial policy. This letter was laid before the State 
Legislatures, printed in the newspapers, and so became 
familiar to the general public ; and its wise counsel grad- 
ually came, amid the darkness of the times, to promise 
hope for the future to many a doubting patriot. 

On the 23d of December, 1783, Washington appeared 
before Congress, then in session at Annapolis, and form- 
ally resigned his commission. The next day he proceeded 
to Mount Vernon, expressing his pleasure in the anticipa- 
tion of years of contentment amid congenial surround- 
ings. Henry Lee, alluding to this quiet resignation of all 



ii6 THE CONFEDERATION [1784 

authority by one so beloved and trusted that he could 
have placed himself, without doubt, at the head of the 
state, spoke with pleasing quaintness •} " To the horrid 
din of battle sweet peace succeeded, and our virtuous 
chief, mindful only of the common good, in a moment 
tempting personal aggrandisement . . . surrendering his 
power into the hands from which he had received it, con- 
verted his sword into a ploughshare, teaching an admir- 
ing world that to be truly great you must be truly good . . , 
First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his 
countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and 
endearing scenes of private life." 

In 1784, Congress appointed Franklin, Adams and 
Jefferson commissioners to negotiate treaties of com- 
merce with foreign nations. Franklin had been for six 
years Minister at the Court of France, and Adams was 
Minister at The Hague. Jefferson crossed the ocean and 
the three men met in Paris ; but the task that confronted 
them was quite hopeless, for the most absurd ideas re- 
garding America prevailed, and an insuperable obstacle 
to success was the fact that while the general Government 
could alone make treaties, yet each State could regulate 
its own commerce and impose duties as it saw fit, without 
let or hindrance from Congress. As Washington wrote : 
" We are one State to-day, and thirteen to-morrow. Who 
will treat with us on such terms ? " The British Govern- 
ment at once recognized this difficulty, and when their 
Ambassador was approached, he asked the pertinent ques- 
tion : " Are you merely commissioned by Congress, or 
have you received separate powers from the separate 
States ? " Under these conditions the Commission, natu- 
rally, failed of its object. Franklin returned to America, 

1 Funeral oration in memory of George Washington delivered be- 
fore Congress December 26, 1799. 



1785] JOHN ADAMS AT THE ENGLISH COURT 117 

Jefferson taking his place as Minister to France, and 
Adams going as Minister to England (1785). 

George the Third received the first American Minister 
to his Court most graciously and with all the ceremony 
usual on such occasions. Mr. Adams assured the King 
that he should be the happiest of men if he could be in- 
strumental in restoring the old kindliness of feeling be- 
tween people : " Who, though separated by an ocean and 
under different Governments, have the same language, a 
similar religion and kindred blood." The King declared 
his pleasure in " letting the circumstances of language, 
religion and blood have their natural and full effect." 
All this was very agreeable, but it did not advance the 
desired commercial treaty. The English still held pos- 
session of the forts on the Northwest frontier, on the 
plea that in some of the States the claims of British cred- 
itors had not yet been adjusted. We have had, in our 
own day, a striking illustration of the British solicitude 
for its citizens; for we have watched England on a like 
plea firmly establish herself in Egypt. America should 
be thankful that her forts were only retained for some 
thirteen years ; and it is interesting to note that in each 
year the profit from the fur trade, which England thus 
secured, exceeded the entire sum due to the claimants. 
That American citizens had a counter claim, demanding 
indemnity for negro slaves carried off by the English, did 
not appear to trouble the British conscience, although 
Pitt, now Prime Minister, admitted that it was an act in 
direct violation of the treaty of peace, and that the claims 
for compensation were just. Added to the old difficulties 
encountered by the commissioners were complications 
caused by the English Navigation Acts, and the increasing 
jealousy felt in England toward the new nation as it be- 
came evident that she would be a future rival in trade. 



ii8 THE CONFEDERATION [1786 

In France a kindlier feeling toward the United States 
naturally prevailed, and Jefferson was able to obtain a 
great reduction in the duty on whale oil, whaling being an 
important industry of New England. Finally, a treaty of 
commerce was made with Prussia, and a treaty of peace 
with IVIorocco; by the latter, after paying a large sum of 
money, American vessels secured immunity from attack by 
those pirates who preyed upon the commerce of all Europe. 
In the United States we must note two factors which 
were destined to contribute to her future greatness. The 
first was the assurance of religious liberty. The Massa- 
chusetts Constitution of 1780 compelled every member of 
the Legislature to declare his belief in the Christian re- 
ligion. This was disliked^ even in that stronghold of 
Calvinism ; but when the Legislature of Virginia pro- 
posed to assess : " All taxable property for the support of 
teachers of the Christian religion," the opposition 
throughout the State was so great that the bill was 
never put to vote. Instead was passed, January 16, 1786, 
this statute, written by Thomes Jefferson : " No man 
shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious 
worship, place or ministry whatsoever, nor shall suffer 
on account of his religious opinions or belief. Opinion 
in matters of religion shall in no wise diminish, enlarge 
or affect civil capacities. The rights hereby asserted are 
of the natural rights of mankind." Maryland at once 
followed the good example of her neighbor and pro- 
claimed religious liberty. In all the other States the laws 
constraining religious freedom were gradually repealed 
until the principle of the Virginia Statute prevailed 
throughout the land. The Constitution affirms this 
right, for it decrees that : " No religious test shall ever 
be required as a qualification to any office or public trust 
under the United States." 



1776] UNITED STATES TREASURY DEPARTMENT 119 

To the second factor, the mechanical genius of the 
people, may be attributed no small measure of the im- 
mense material prosperity of the country. Mr. Francis 
Walker, in The Making of the Nation, puts this fact most 
forcibly. He says in part : " In other countries it is only 
picked men, a select few, who possess mechanical insight 
and aptitude, the power of instantaneously — because in- 
stinctively — seizing upon mechanical relations, together 
with a high degree of native efficiency in the use of tools. 
With us the rule is the other way ... as a great organ of 
English opinion has said : ' Invention is a normal func- 
tion of the American brain. The American invents as 
the Greek chiseled, as the Venetian painted, as the modern 
Italian sings.' " This wonderful power was possessed to 
a remarkable degree by the men of the northern States, 
especially those of New England — the Yankees. Gradu- 
ally, at the North, there was to arise a powerful manu- 
facturing and commercial class, while at the South, the 
invention of the cotton gin was to add immeasurably to 
the wealth and consequent power of the planters. Even 
in the early days of the republic, while these diverse inter- 
ests were, as yet, comparatively feeble, they began to exert 
an influence on its political history. 

On that dark page upon which is written the early 
financial history of the United States is recounted the 
gloomy record of a time during which, as Madison said, 
" Congress kept the vessel from sinking ; but it was by 
standing constantly at the pump, not by stopping the 
leaks." The first Department of the Government to be 
organized was the Treasury. In 1776, the year of the 
Declaration of Independence, all financial matters were 
relegated to a committee of five called the Committee of 
the Treasury. In 1779 the system was reorganized and the 
Board of Treasury established, consisting of three com- 



120 THE CONFEDERATION [1781 

missioners not members of Congress and of two members 
of Congress. This Board of Treasury was in force until 
1781, but it was so inefficient that it became necessary to 
place the department in the charge of one man, to be 
called the Superintendent of Finance, and that man was 
the great financier, Robert Morris. 

Robert Morris was an Englishman by birth, who, hav- 
ing come to this country when a young lad, became in 
feeling thoroughly American. His business ability made 
him, at thirty, a partner in a large mercantile house, where 
he acquired a great fortune and an intimate knowledge 
of trade and commerce. He lived in Philadelphia, in 
great magnificence for those days, entertained hand- 
somely, and was well liked for his genial and kindly na- 
ture. He was a member of the Continental Congress for 
three years, and signed the Declaration of Independence 
and the Articles of Confederation. He was wise, ener- 
getic and patriotic; and, above all, a practical business 
man who was familiar with the principles of public 
finance. Three days after taking office he laid before 
Congress his plan for a National Bank. This was to be 
called the Bank of North America, and was to be estab- 
lished at Philadelphia. Its capital was to be $400,000 in 
gold and silver, and its notes were to be receivable as 
specie for duties and taxes in every State and by the 
United States. Morris claimed that it would afford to 
the individuals of all the States a medium of exchange 
and would be particularly useful to merchants and trad- 
ers. There was the usual outcry against the usurpation 
of authority by Congress, but the charter was finally 
granted, it being carefully stated, however, that the bank 
" was not to exercise powers in any one of the States 
repugnant to the Laws or Constitution of that State." 
Later, several of the States granted it State charters, and 



lySi] DEPRECIATION OE THE CURRENCY 121 

it so prospered that in three years its cash accounts arose 
to the value of nearly 6,000,000 Mexican dollars. 

The Continental Congress had been obliged to borrow 
money and emit bills of credit. The first issue of the 
latter was in 1775 and was of non-interest bearing notes, 
to the value of 2,000,000 Spanish milled dollars. This 
was the beginning, and the exigencies of the time de- 
manded the same unwise course again and again. In 
1776, the Government offered interest at six per cent on 
its notes, though hozu it could raise the interest it knew 
not. But it had become necessary to present some induce- 
ment to lenders. By 1780, the paper money of the Gov- 
ernment had become nearly worthless. Some idea of its 
depreciation can be gathered from current prices. In 
order to purchase supplies with paper money, the shopper 
of that day had to pay for : 

Cheese $10.00 per pound 

Butter 

Beef 

Mutton 

Coffee 

Tea 

Linen 

In that year, Congress, by a new five-per-cent issue, 
attempted to redeem Continental notes, offering to pay 
one dollar of the new issue for forty dollars of the old. 
It was thus able to call in and destroy a large amount of 
worthless paper. The depreciation of the paper money 
was not the only defect in the currency, for the coinage 
was debased and of uncertain value. All the coin of the 
country was of foreign mintage, coming from England, 
France, Spain and Holland. There was no general 
standard, unless the Spanish dollar, which circulated 



12.00 " * 


8.00 " 


9.00 " ' 


12.00 " * 


90.00 " ' 


20.00 " yar 



122 THE CONFEDERATION [1785 

most generally, could be so considered. In 1782, this 
passed in Georgia for five shillings, in North Carolina 
and New York for eight shillings, in Virginia and the 
four eastern States for six shillings, in South Carolina 
for thirty-two shillings and sixpence, and in all the other 
States for seven shillings and sixpence. As this, which 
was supposed to be the standard, had such a variable 
value, the other foreign pieces were necessarily mutable. 
It was said: " The commonest transactions grew intricate 
when money entered into them." 

But a more serious evil than this perplexing difference 
in value was counterfeiting and clipping, which were 
common offences. The latter finally brought the coins 
to such a mutilated state that they passed by weight, not 
by tale. Hardly a piece of money could be found that 
had not been robbed by the punch or the shears. Wash- 
ington wrote : " Unless some stop can be put to the cut- 
ting and clipping of money ... a man nuist travel with a 
pair of scales in his pocket or run the risk of receiving 
gold at one-fourth the less by weight than it counts." 
Congress made no attempt to redress these crying 
wrongs, until July, 1785. when it resolved to make one 
dollar of silver the unit of a decimal system of money. 
The next year an ordinance was passed, providing for an 
entire national currency. Of silver there was to be a 
dollar, half-dollar, double dime and half-dime. Of cop- 
per a cent and half-cent, and of gold a ten-dollar piece, 
stamped with an eagle — hence called an eagle — and a 
half-eagle or five-dollar piece. A bill was then passed 
to establish a mint. Several dies were made, and a few 
copper cents were struck off, and then the whole business 
passed into that state best described by President Cleve- 
land's famous phrase, " innocuous desuetude." The idea 
of the decimal svstem of currencv had originated with 



1785] FINANCIAL STRAITS 123 

Gouverneiir Morris who was assistant to Robert Morris 
in the Treasury. They were of the same name, but not 
related, the former being a native of New York. He was 
at this time a young lawyer of eminence, who had become 
a member of the Continental Congress when but twenty- 
six years of age. He was a man of delightful social qual- 
ities, yet an untiring worker ; was a wit and a scholar, yet 
a financier, and devoted to business. He seemed to have 
united in an unusual degree the traits of the man of 
society and the man of affairs. He was the founder of 
our National coinage, though his original plan was 
amended by Jefferson, and, as thus altered, was passed 
by Congress. 

At the close of the Revolution the debt of the United 
States was $42,000,000. Nearly $8,000,000 was owed 
abroad, for large sums of money had been borrowed from 
France, Spain and Holland. The interest on the foreign 
loan was due; the claims of the soldiers were pressing, 
and the running expenses of the Government were to be 
provided for. To meet these demands was the hopeless 
task before Congress. By the compromise made with 
the army and the generous action of France the Govern- 
ment obtained temporary relief. The Court of France 
voluntarily released the United States from the payment 
on its obligations during the war and for the first period 
of peace, and the United States, on its part, by formal 
treaty, assumed the obligation to pay interest, as it should 
accrue from the beginning of the year 1784. Congress 
made requisitions upon the States, and they were pledged 
to respond, raising the money, as they saw fit, by taxa- 
tion within their own borders. But the States had little 
respect for the authority of a body too weak to enforce 
its demands, and, beside, had to contend with the distress 
and demoralization caused by a fluctuating currency, the 



124 2"H£ CONFEDERATION [1784 

depreciation of all securities and a general depression of 
trade and commerce. It was a time of transition ; the old 
Government had passed, the new had not yet come to ful- 
fillment ; the political ideas of the people were unformed, 
crude and hazy. The citizen was loyal to his State, but 
for the general Government his regard was slight. In 
judging the States, it must be remembered that they felt 
a natural dread of any extraneous authority. They had 
become free, after a terrible struggle, from the authority 
of Great Britain. Should they grant power to another 
body to oppress them ? forge their chains anew ? At that 
time, nationality was the dream of statesmen, not a fa- 
miliar thought of the people. 

Morris hammered away at the States to pay, but with 
slight effect. In 1782, he wrote : " Near five months of 
the present year have elapsed without my having received 
anything on account of its expenditures, except the trifling 
sum of $5,500, and that sum, calculating our expenses 
at $8,000,000 annually, is about one-quarter of what is 
necessary to support us for a single day." There was 
a time, during this year, when the Treasury was literally 
empty. Congress replied to the demands of its creditors by 
a question : *' How," it asked, " could payment to them be 
made unless the States contributed the necessary funds ? " 
Robert Morris generously used his own large fortune for 
public needs, but in 1784, exhausted by his efforts to 
accomplish the impossible, he resigned, and a Board of 
Treasury, consisting of three members, was appointed in 
his place. It has been said : " No person was ever more 
scrupulous in executing his promises than Morris, or 
entertained loftier ideas concerning the sacredness of 
public obligations." He had adopted every honest device 
to keep the Ship of State afloat. A man less fertile in 
resource would have stranded long before. American 



1787] COMMERCIAL DIFFICULTIES 125 

credit was exhausted, and money could be borrowed from 
abroad only with difficulty and at usurious rates. Mat- 
ters went from bad to worse, and in 1787, Madison wrote 
to Randolph : " Our situation is becoming every day more 
critical. No money comes into the Federal Treasury ; no 
respect is paid to the Federal authority; and people of 
reflection unanimously agree that the existing Confed- 
eracy is tottering to its foundations." 

What was the condition of society, of the people at 
large, during these trying years? The most influential 
and powerful States were Massachusetts, New York, 
Pennsylvania and Virginia. Speaking generally, the first 
three were commercial, the last agricultural. At the 
close of the war, the shipping interest of New England 
was ruined, and trade and commerce were stagnant in all 
the States; but with the return of peace, the merchants 
looked for a revival of business, and, with that expecta- 
tion, they bought more goods of England in one year than 
the exports of the country would pay for in three. This 
influx of British goods drained the country of specie, and 
being, of necessity, sold at low prices, retarded the 
growth of home industries. England placed heavy duties 
on American goods and products, taxing whale oil, for 
example, $90 a tun. Nor was this all. The English 
Navigation Laws were most disastrous for American 
shippers, as under them, American goods could not enter 
the ports of Great Britain or the West Indies unless car- 
ried in British-built ships, owned and navigated by Brit- 
ish subjects. This not only prevented all revival of the 
former prosperous trade with the West Indies, but dealt 
a severe blow to shipbuilding, which formerly had been 
a most successful industry of New England. Before 
the war, one-third the tonnage of British commerce had 
been of American construction. England understood 



126 THE CONFEDERATION [1787 

only too well the weakness of the Confederation and had 
no fear that the States would unite in retaliation ; so she 
put John Adams off from month to month, when he en- 
deavored to negotiate a Treaty of Commerce. She could 
restrict American shipping and tax American exports, 
while she entered her own goods duty free at every Amer- 
ican port. The Englishman, naturally, was perfectly sat- 
isfied; it was the American merchant, with ruin staring 
him in the face, who cried out. And yet this harassed 
people would not agree to grant Congress the power nec- 
essary to redress their wrongs. When a plan of retalia- 
tion, by means of a national tariff, was finally laid before 
that body, the diverse interests of the States, north and 
south, were an important factor in securing its defeat. 
Richard Henry Lee presented the objections of the south- 
ern States, saying : " That the interests of the North were 
different from the interests of the South ; that the regula- 
tions of trade that suited one would not suit the other; 
that eight States were interested in the carrying trade 
and would combine together to shackle and fetter the five 
southern States, which, without shipping of their own, 
raise the chief staples for exportation." He also insisted 
that a new grant of power to Congress would endanger 
public liberty, would be an entering wedge, by means of 
which further attempts would be made to enlarge the 
powers of the general Government. This was not the 
first attempt to place an impost. Congress had again and 
again petitioned the States for authority to impose a duty 
on liquor, sugar, tea, coffee, cocoa, molasses and pepper ; 
but its appeal had only aroused bitter opposition, although 
it would have furnished a much-needed income to the 
bankrupt government. Indignant at the restrictive policy 
of England, several of the States retaliated. The first 
to lay before its Legislature a protective tariff bill was 



1787] COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCE 127 

Pennsylvania — to this day a staunch advocate of protec- 
tion. This was on March 22, 1785, and was entitled : 
"A Bill to protect the Manufactures of Pennsylvania." 
A duty was laid on seventy articles, among them iron and 
steel, and an extra tonnage duty on ships of nations hav- 
ing no commercial treaty with Congress. It was passed 
in the following September. In July of the same year, 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island had 
placed protective duties and passed a Navigation Act, for- 
bidding exports from their harbors in British ships and 
placing an extra tonnage duty on foreign vessels. Em- 
barrassment and distress followed this condition of af- 
fairs, which was increased by the lack of harmony among 
the States. McMaster has clearly described the existing 
conditions : " Each State, left to itself, ordered its own 
trade in its own way; and the way of one State was 
always different from the way of another. The com- 
merce which Massachusetts found it to her interest to 
encourage, Virginia found it to hers to restrict. New 
York would not protect the trade in indigo and pitch, 
North Carolina cared nothing for the success of the fur 
interest. New England derived great revenues from 
lumber, oil and potashes ; Pennsylvania from corn and 
grain ; and were in no wise concerned as to the prosperity 
of the trade of their neighbors. Articles which Connec- 
ticut and New Jersey excluded from their ports by heavy 
tonnage duties entered New York with scarcely any other 
charges than light money." For, alas! the States began 
selfishly to legislate against each other in a desperate 
effort to obtain trade. New York was the most serious 
offender. In 1787, her Legislature passed a law most 
injurious to the commerce of New Jersey and Connec- 
ticut. These States had a profitable trade with New York, 
supplying the city with fire-wood, vegetables, fowls, but- 



128 THE CONFEDERATION [1787 

ter and cheese. It was asserted that the Jerseymen and 
the Yankees drew too much money from the city, and 
to prevent this it was decreed that every boat of more 
than twelve tons' burden should henceforth be entered 
and cleared at the Custom House in the same manner as 
vessels from a foreign port. This dealt a severe blow to 
the boatmen and farmers, and the New Jersey Legis- 
lature took signal revenge. New York had bought four 
acres of land at Sandy Hook, in the State of New Jersey, 
and had erected thereon a lighthouse. The New Jersey 
Legislature now laid a tax of thirty pounds a month on 
this property. The wood-boats from Connecticut had 
to pay, in addition to customs' duties, a tax for the cartage 
of fire-wood across the city. In Connecticut a league 
was formed among the business men, whereby every man 
bound himself, under a penalty of fifty pounds, not to 
send any article into the State of New York, nor furnish 
any craft with a bill of lading for its ports, until one year 
from date. The State of New York was dominated by its 
Governor, George Clinton, who was nine times elected to 
that office and was the first great '' boss " in State poli- 
tics. Shrewd and crafty, pushing and masterful, aiming 
always to increase the power of his State, he is the most 
striking example of the successful politician that the 
America of his day affords. 

Money had now become so scarce, the distress so great, 
that even men of good sense were seduced by specious 
theories that promised relief ; one of these was the paper- 
money fallacy. One writer remarks : " There were, at 
that time, as there have been and still are, in every State, 
select companies of incorrigible fools who thought that 
a State could, by merely calling a bundle of rags a hun- 
dred thousand pounds, really add one hundred thousand 
pounds to the wealth of the community." The paper- 



1786] THE "FORCING ACT" 129 

money delusion became popular and spread rapidly, 
though in a few States there was an opposition so bitter 
that they were saved from the impending evil. Notwith- 
standing the advice and entreaties of thoughtful men, 
who still remained calm and sane, Legislature after Leg- 
islature issued paper money, with the inevitable result 
that it soon depreciated, and the people were in a worse 
strait than before. Then an effort was made in several 
States to bolster up its falling values by legislative enact- 
ments. A useless expedient, for it is as impossible to stay 
the operation of natural law in the financial world as it is 
in the physical or the moral world. These measures were 
carried to the greatest extent in Rhode Island, where the 
Legislature passed a " Forcing Act." By this ordinance, 
any person who refused to take the bills at gold value, 
or should in any way discourage their circulation, was to 
be fined one hundred pounds and lose the right of suf- 
frage. This act aroused a storm of indignation. The 
merchants closed their shops, and business was at a stand- 
still. For the necessary trade, to supply daily needs, 
people returned to barter. The farmers retaliated by 
refusing to dispose of their goods to the storekeepers. 
The distress was extreme, and rioting occurred at several 
places. In these troubled days, there was one class of 
men who prospered — the lawyers. Throughout the 
country business was prostrate, farms mortgaged, specie 
scarce, securities and paper money nearly worthless, and 
the people sorely pressed by debts and taxes. All this 
made a rushing business for the courts; there was not 
time to try the numerous cases on the docket. While all 
others were idle, the lawyers were busy and as a class 
grew rich and influential. This aroused great bitterness 
of feeling against them and strong opposition to the 
courts. This ill-feeling at last found expression in Massa- 



I30 THE CONFEDERATION [1787 

chusetts and Vermont, where armed mobs attempted to 
prevent the courts from sitting. Daniel Shays, an ex- 
captain of the army, placed himself at the head of some 
six hundred men, and the riot became civil war in JMassa- 
chusetts. The rebels marched to Worcester, but the Court 
House was so well guarded by the militia that they were 
obliged to retire. Then followed a campaign of barn 
burning and general lawlessness that lasted several 
months. In midwinter, the Governor resorted to extreme 
measures ; he enlisted over four thousand men and placed 
General Lincoln in command. The rebels retreated be- 
fore this organized force, but the General was compelled 
to march his troops over many a weary mile, through 
ice and snow, before he succeeded in dispersing them. 
" Shays's Eebellion," as this uprising was called, shocked 
and startled the nation. The country was evidently on 
the verge of anarchy — something must be done and that 
speedily. The time had come to listen to the words of 
her patriots and statesmen. An alarmed people at last 
recognized the fact that their only safety lay in revising 
their Government. 

The opportunity to do this came from the efforts to 
improve the conditions of interstate trade, for the Con- 
stitutional Convention was the outcome of what is known 
as the Annapolis Convention, which latter was brought 
about in the following manner: in March, 1785, a joint 
Commission from the States of Maryland and Virginia 
had met at Mount Vernon to consider matters relating 
to the navigation of Chesapeake Bay and the rivers com- 
mon to both States. Washington suggested that Penn- 
sylvania and Delaware be asked to join them in a further 
discussion regarding a proposed canal between the 
Chesapeake and the Delaware. This idea was taken up 
and enlarged upon by Madison who proposed a motion 



1787] THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONJ'ENTION 131 

for presentation to the Legislature of Virginia, to the 
effect that Commissioners should be appointed by each 
of the thirteen States, to meet and discuss a uniform 
treatment of commercial questions. This was passed 
January 21, 1786, and a meeting was called for the first 
Monday in September, at Annapolis. To this invitation 
only five States responded, but the result of this failure 
was to be a larger success. Before adjourning, they 
adopted an address written by Alexander Hamilton and 
sent it to all the States. In it the States were urged to 
send delegates to a Convention at Philadelphia, on the 
second Monday of the following May, 1787, to agree 
upon a plan " to render the Constitution of the Federal 
Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and 
to report the same to Congress." The failure of Con- 
gress to place an impost, owing to the selfish action of 
New York under Governor Clinton, and the alarm over 
Shays's rebellion, induced it to make a final effort for its 
own safety. A motion was offered by Rufus King of 
Massachusetts that Congress should of itself propose a 
Convention identical with the one which the Annapolis 
Commissioners had already recommended. It was passed, 
and in this way the Constitutional Convention obtained 
the authority of Congressional approval. 

Realizing the importance of the work to be done, the 
States sent their most distinguished men to Philadelphia. 
All, except Rhode Island, who declined to take part, and 
New York, who sent the brilliant Hamilton, but, not wish- 
ing the Convention success, hampered him by two col- 
leagues, Yates and Lansing; both inferior men who, after 
some weeks, abandoned their posts and returned home. 
Of the fifty-five delegates, Washington, Hamilton, 
Franklin and Madison were the men of most distin- 
guished ability. Madison is called the " Father of the 



132 THE CONFEDERATION [il^l 

Constitution," for, a great student of all forms of Re- 
publican and Federal Governments, he more than any 
one man shaped the Constitution of the United States, 
Among the other distinguished men present were Robert 
and Gouverneur Morris, John Dickinson, John Rutledge, 
the two Pinckneys, Caleb Strong, Rufus King, Daniel 
Carroll, Oliver Ellsworth, John I.angdon, Roger Sher- 
man, William Livingston, Elbridge Gerry and Edmund 
Randolph. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CONSTITUTION AND THE FIRST 
ELECTION 

The second Monday in May, 1787, was appointed for 
the meeting of the Constitutional Convention. The del- 
egates gathered slowly; but on May 25, there was a 
quorum, and the Convention proceeded to business by 
electing George Washington Chairman. Every member 
was pledged to secrecy, which was a wise precaution, ow- 
ing to the excited state of public feeling. The session 
lasted for four months. There exists but one detailed 
account of what occurred behind those locked doors, for, 
happily for posterity, Madison kept, in shorthand, a 
journal of the proceedings, which was published fifty 
years afterward ; and from its pages is learned almost all 
that is known of the framing of the Constitution. The 
call had been issued for the purpose of revising the 
Articles of Confederation ; it was now resolved : " That 
a National Government ought to be established, consist- 
ing of a supreme legislative, executive and judiciary." 
Thus was swept away the Confederation. The new Gov- 
ernment was a revolution. Of this Mr. Gladstone said: 
" The American Constitution is the most wonderful work 
ever struck off, at a given time, by the brain and pur- 
pose of man." 

The plan of a Federal Government was presented to the 
Convention on May 29th by Edmund Randolph. This 

133 



134 THE CONSTITUTION [1787 

was called the Virginia plan and was, to a great extent, 
the work of James Madison, but Randolph was selected 
to present it, as he was Chairman of the Delegation, Gov- 
ernor of Virginia and a man of acknowledged ability, 
although not yet thirty-four years of age. Subsequently, 
both Hamilton and the New Jersey Delegation submitted 
plans, but neither was acceptable. The Virginia plan, 
changed and amended, became the present Constitution, 
But this was only accomplished by three compromises, 
necessitated by the claims of State rights, slavery and the 
divergent interests of the commercial and agricultural 
States, North and South. 

The first struggle in the Convention was between those 
favoring a strong central Government and those desiring 
the sovereignty of the States. " What," it was asked, " is 
the meaning of the word ' supreme ' — a supreme legis- 
lative, executive and judiciary?" It was explained that 
** supreme " meant the sovereign power of the Govern- 
ment ; if the powers granted to the new Government 
clashed with the powers of a State, the State must yield. 
An excited discussion followed, and after many argu- 
ments the strong government party won by a small 
majority. 

The Virginia plan provided for a Congress, to consist 
of two Houses; the Lower to be elected by the people, 
the Upper, or Senate, chosen by the House from nomina- 
tions made by the State Legislatures. It was recognized 
as in keeping with sound democratic principles that there 
should be a legislative body elected directly by the people 
— an American House of Commons. But what was to 
be the basis of representation? Population was thought 
preferable to wealth, and at once the smaller States be- 
came alarmed. They would be overwhelmed by the larger 
States. For one month the heated, often bitter, discussion 



1787] THE "CONNECTICUT COMPROMISE" 135 

continued. Finally, when an agreement seemed all but 
hopeless, Oliver Ellsworth and Roger Sherman of Con- 
necticut presented a plan known as the " Connecticut 
Compromise," by which the Lower House, the House of 
Representatives, was to be elected directly by the people, 
and the Senate to consist of two members from each State, 
to be elected by the Legislatures of their respective States. 
The States were thus equally represented in one branch 
of the Government. This promised a solution of the 
difficulty and, after further excited debate, was adopted 
by a majority of one vote. Afterward, it was decided 
that senators were to serve for six years and represen- 
tatives for two years and that each State should be en- 
titled to one representative for every 30,000 inhabitants. 
The first census was to be taken in 1790 and thereafter 
every ten years, and the representation adjusted accord- 
ingly. It is at present (1900) one to every 173,901 of 
population.^ 

The second compromise arose from the question : Shall 
slaves be counted as population? The North claimed 
that slaves were chattels, not persons, but the South con- 
tended that they were population, and the contest raged 
fiercely. There were many anti-slavery men in the Con- 
vention who were outspoken in their opposition. Gou- 
verneur Morris said : " I can never agree to give such en- 
couragement to the slave trade, as would be given by 
allowing the southern States a representation for their 
negroes ... I would sooner submit myself to a tax for 
paying for all the negroes in the United States than 
saddle posterity with such a Constitution." The debate 
waxed passionate and bitter; South Carolina threatened 
to leave the Convention, and had she done so Georgia 

1 At the present date the House of Representatives numbers 357 
members, the Senate 90. 



136 THE CONSTITUTION [17S7 

and probably North Carolina would have followed ; in 
which case, not enough States would have ratified the 
Constitution for it to become the law of the land. As 
it was absolutely necessary to satisfy the southern mem- 
bers, Madison proposed that, as a basis for representa- 
tion, five slaves should be reckoned as three individuals. 
Thus, the first great struggle between pro-slavery and 
anti-slavery interests began in the Constitutional Con- 
vention, and Mr. Fiske asserts : " From this moment 
down to 1865, we shall continually be made to realize how 
the American people had entered into the shadow of the 
Civil War before they had fairly emerged from that of 
the Revolution." Madison's motion prevailed and ef- 
fected the second compromise. 

The third also had to do with slavery, for it forbade 
the Government to interfere with the foreign slave trade 
for twenty years to come, and was the result of a bargain 
between the States of the extreme North and the extreme 
South. Three motions had been offered ; these were, 
first, that no export duties should ever be placed by Con- 
gress ; this was desired by the southern members, to pro- 
tect their rice and indigo, and it was passed; second, 
Congress should not pass a Navigation Act, except by 
a two-thirds vote of both Houses, for the South feared 
that the shipping interest of the northern States might, 
under the protection of such a law, charge excessive rates 
for carrying southern staples to Europe ; third, the im- 
portation of slaves should not be interfered with ; this 
was owing to the ghastly fact that the deadly rice swamps 
of South Carolina rendered necessary a constant supply 
of negroes. New England realized after her recent bitter 
experience that Congress must have full power to reg- 
ulate commerce, and so the third compromise was made. 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut con- 



1787J THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE 137 

sented that the foreign slave trade should continue with- 
out molestation until 1808, and, in return, South Carolina 
and Georgia consented to empower Congress to pass navi- 
gation laws, and regulate commerce by a simple majority 
vote. This decision was not arrived at without bitter 
and passionate objections and the repeated threat of 
South Carolina to withdraw. At this time, all the States, 
except the two southernmost, desired to stop the importa- 
tion of negroes, for slavery was dead or dying out in all 
the northern States, and was not strongly entrenched in 
Virginia. Washington and Madison anticipated that, by 
the end of twenty years, slavery would have almost disap- 
peared. Cotton was not then king, for the cotton-gin was 
a later invention, and the great cotton mills of New Eng- 
land were not even dreamed of. It was impossible to 
foresee the results of the latent mechanical genius of the 
people ; but, in any case, they could not well have decided 
otherwise; the question before them was, A Government 
recognizing slavery or — anarchy? If the Convention had 
not compromised, the Constitution could not have been 
adopted. 

But George Mason, of Virginia, who, in burning 
words, objected to fastening upon the country for twenty 
years to come what he termed an " infernal traffic," 
prophesied the result : " They bring," he warned them, 
" the judgment of Heaven on a country. As nations can- 
not be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must 
be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, 
Providence punishes national sins by national calamities." 

The threatening issues being now decided, the re- 
mainder of the Constitution was debated with less fric- 
tion. The plan of an Electoral College was the result, 
in part, of an aristocratic feeling among many of the 
delegates, who felt unwilling to trust the people with 



138 THE CONSTITUTION [1787 

full power to elect a Presiclent, and, in part, to the fear 
that cabals and intrigues would result from granting 
power to the House of Representatives, or the Senate, 
to fill so important an office. The establishment of the 
Supreme Court, it has been said, " was the most remark- 
able and original of all the creations of that wonderful 
Convention. It was charged with the duty of inter- 
preting, in accordance with the general principles of com- 
mon law, the Federal Constitution itself. This is the. . . 
most distinctive feature in the Government of the United 
States ... In Great Britain, the unwritten Constitution 
is administered by the omnipotent House of Commons ; 
whatever Statute is enacted by Parliament, must stand 
until some future Parliament may see fit to repeal it. 
But an act passed by both Houses of Congress, and 
signed by the President, may still be set aside as un- 
constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United 
States in its judgments upon individual cases brought 
before it. This entrusting to the judiciary the sole in- 
terpretation of the fundamental instrument of govern- 
ment is the most peculiarly American work done by the 
Convention." 

The Convention, having finished its arduous labors, 
met for the last time on Monday, September 17, 1787. 
Franklin, Hamilton and others pleaded for unanimity, 
stating that they were not entirely satisfied, but con- 
sidered the Constitution before them the best that could 
be obtained, and asserting that the question they must 
now answer was : " Shall there be a National Govern- 
ment, or general anarchy?" In spite of these appeals, 
George Mason, Flbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph 
refused to sign. The remaining delegates affixed their 
names, representing each of the twelve States which had 
taken part. Washington was the first to sign, and, as 



1787] FEDERALISTS AND ANTI-FEDERALISTS 139 

the last members were placing their names, it is re- 
lated that Franklin looked toward the President's chair, 
on the back of which was painted a half sun, pointed to 
it and remarked : " As I have been sitting here all these 
weeks, I have often wondered whether yonder sun is a 
rising or a setting sun. But now I know that it is a ris- 
ing sun." Thus ended the stupendous task of creating 
a National Government. 

The new Constitution, which during four months had 
been a source of conjecture and wild rumor, was placed 
before Congress, then in session at New York, on Sep- 
tember 20th, three days after it had been signed in the 
Convention at Philadelphia. It now became the prop- 
erty of the people, and was immediately a subject of 
excited controversy. It was said, that it granted ex- 
cessive powers to Congress and to the Federal Judi- 
ciary ; that Representatives, by being paid from the Fed- 
eral Treasury, were made independent of their own 
States; and, above all, that it did not include a Bill of 
Rights. That is, a series of articles defining the in- 
dividual rights of citizens. 

In the autumn of 1787 arose the first great political 
parties in the United States, to divide on national issues. 
They were the Federalists, who supported the Constitu- 
tion, and the Anti-Federalists, who opposed it. There 
was great excitement throughout the country, and party 
feeling ran high. The opposition had begun at once in 
Congress, where the New York delegation opposed the 
Constitution most determinedly; but fortunately, Madi- 
son had returned to his seat as a representative from 
Virginia, and he led the good fight with such success 
that after eight days Congress accepted the new Govern- 
ment and submitted it to the States for ratification. The 
Constitution, by its final article, declared itself in force 



I40 THE CONSTITUTION [1787 

when ratified by the Conventions of nine States. Dur- 
ing December (1787), three States ratified, Delaware, to 
whom belongs the honor of first coming under the " New 
Roof," as the Constitution was called in the slang of the 
day, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In January following, 
Georgia and Connecticut ratified ; in February, Massa- 
chusetts; in April, Maryland; in May, South Carolina; 
in June, New Hampshire and Virginia ; and in July, New 
York. In November, 1789, North Carolina joined, but 
Rhode Island did not enter the Union until May, 1790. 
The last two States were not in the Union when Wash- 
ington was inaugurated. Several States accompanied 
their acceptance of the Constitution by a Bill of Rights, 
and the first Congress (1789) in accordance with this 
strongly expressed desire, submitted twelve amendments 
to the States. The Constitution provided by Article V 
that whenever by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, 
or on application from the legislatures of two-thirds of 
the States, it should be deemed necessary to amend the 
Constitution, it could be done by Congress presenting 
to the States amendments, which, when ratified by three- 
fourths of the States, should become a part of the orig- 
inal instrument. This decree being complied with, on 
December 15, 1791, the first ten amendments became 
the law of the land, the other two not being ratified by 
the required number of States. An eleventh amendment 
was added in 1798, and the twelfth in 1803. The wis- 
dom of the framers of the Constitution is evinced by 
the fact that it was not necessary to further amend that 
instrument for sixty years, and then the changes effected 
by the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation 
rendered necessary three more amendments, the thir- 
teenth which became the law in 1865 ; the fourteenth 
in 1868; and the fifteenth in 1870. This last grants 



1787] CONSTITUTION OPPOSED IN VIRGINIA 141 

full right of citizenship to the negro. Thus in the same 
document there is a provision for a fugitive slave law 
and permission given the once manacled hands to cast 
a ballot — such being the resistless march of events. 

That Pennsylvania ratified the Constitution so promptly 
was owing to the vigorous measures of the Federalists. 
On the day after the Convention adjourned, not waiting 
for the action of Congress, the Pennsylvania delegation, 
headed by Benjamin Franklin, presented the Constitu- 
tion to the State Legislature. This was a surprise to 
the Anti-Federalists present, and fearing that they were 
not strong enough to prevent the calling of a Convention 
to ratify, they decided to absent themselves and thus 
prevent a quorum. When summoned by the sergeant- 
at-arms, they refused to obey the order for their return, 
and the Assembly was obliged to adjourn. But the 
next morning a body of respectable citizens broke into 
the lodgings of two recreant delegates, dragged them 
through the streets, in the midst of an excited crowd, 
and, on reaching the Assembly Chamber, held them 
down in their seats. As their presence made the neces- 
sary quorum, the Convention was voted for at once. 

This occasion was the last public appearance of Ben- 
jamin Franklin, although he lived for two years after 
this event, but always ill, and bearing with patience his 
great sufferings. His last public act was to sign, as 
President of the Anti-slavery Society, an appeal to Con- 
gress that : " You will step to the very verge of the 
power vested in you for discouraging every species of 
traffic in the persons of our fellow-men." 

The Constitution was only adopted in Massachusetts 
after excited controversy. Its acceptance was owing in 
great part to an immense mass-meeting of working- 
men held in Boston, at which resolutions were passed, 



142 THE CONSTITUTION [1788 

favoring ratification. These being sent to Samuel 
Adams, who was always a friend of the common people, 
caused him to change his vote and exert his influence 
on the Federal side. Another important factor was a 
letter from Washington. In it he said : " The Con- 
stitution or disunion are before us to choose from. If 
the Constitution is our choice, a Constitutional door is 
open for amendments, and they may be adopted in a 
peaceable manner without tumult or disorder." The 
wisdom of this advice was recognized, and, by a major- 
ity of nineteen votes, Massachusetts came under the 
sheher of the " New Roof." 

The principal opposition to the Constitution in Virginia 
and North Carolina was owing to an issue that had 
arisen in the West and had aroused such bitterness of 
feeling that the southern States had contemplated with- 
drawing from the Confederation and setting up a sep- 
arate Government. At this time, Kentucky formed part 
of Virginia, and Tennessee of North Carolina. In these 
western regions, many settlements had sprung up, and 
the adventurous settlers desiring an outlet for their prod- 
ucts, turned naturally to the Mississippi, which formed 
the western boundary. Why carry their merchandise 
for long distances through the forests and over the 
Alleghanies, when they could so easily float down the 
Mississippi to the sea ? An article of the Treaty of Peace 
guaranteed the free navigation of the river to the United 
States, but Spain was in actual possession of its mouth, 
with Natchez and New Orleans as points of defense, and 
she declared her absolute control of its entire length. 
This was serious, and to complicate matters still further, 
John Jay, who had been commissioned by Congress to 
negotiate a treaty of commerce with Spain, reported that 
Spain was willing to sign such a treaty, on condition 



1788] OPPOSITION OF NEW YORK 143 

that the United States would forego the navigation of 
the Mississippi for twenty-five years. The commercial 
North, anxious for the advantages of the treaty, and 
caring nothing for the far-distant West, was favorably 
inclined to this demand, but the opposition of the South 
was determined; they felt that their States were unjustly 
dealt with, and declared that they were being sold to 
Spain to satisfy the greed of the North. After long 
discussion the treaty was laid aside. When the Consti- 
tution was presented to the Virginia Convention, Patrick 
Henry opposed it, one of his strongest arguments being, 
that the southern States would be unable to prevent so 
powerful a Congress as the new Government established 
from closing the Mississippi river to their western com- 
merce. But Madison controverted every argument and 
ably led the Federalists to victory. He was aided by 
the eloquence of Randolph, whom he had won to his 
side, and by a young man, John Marshall, afterward 
Chief- Justice, who was then the foremost lawyer in the 
State and destined to become one of the greatest jurists 
in the world. Virginia was the tenth State to ratify ; the 
"Constitution having become the law when New Hamp- 
shire joined five days previously. But New York still 
remained out, and if the new Government were to be 
organized without her, it would be most disastrous, for 
not only was she a wealthy and powerful State, but, 
owing to her geographical position, she would divide 
the new Union into two distinct parts. The opposition 
in New York was controlled by that able politician, 
George Clinton, of whom it was said : " He hated the 
Constitution more bitterly than any man in the thirteen 
States." The contest raged day after day in the Con- 
vention, with intense bitterness. Hamilton led the Fed- 
eralists, and feeling that he had a campaign of educa- 



144 ^^^ CONSTITUTION [1788 

tion before him, began a series of essays, which were 
printed mainly in the Independent Journal. He invited 
Madison and Jay to join with him, and eighty-five papers 
were issued all signed " Publius." Of these Hamilton 
wrote fifty-one, Madison twenty-nine, and Jay five. The 
first number appeared in October, 1787, and they con- 
tinued during the winter and spring, sometimes as 
many as three or four a week. These collected papers 
form the Federalist, of which it is said : " It is perhaps 
the most famous x\merican book, and undoubtedly the 
most profound and suggestive treatise on government 
that has ever been written." Its influence was immense, 
and, added to the eloquence of Hamilton, as week after 
week, with matchless charm and wonderful power, he 
debated every point, at last won the day by a majority 
of three votes. A great work well done, a tremendous 
victory to be won by a man barely thirty. 

As State after State joined the Union, there was great 
rejoicing throughout the land. The Anti-Federalists 
might make bonfires of the Constitution, burn Hamilton, 
Jay and Madison in effigy, talk of the " gilded trap " in 
which the Federalists had been caught ; their dissatis- 
faction was lost in the popular approval. In the large 
cities the new Government was greeted with bell-ringing 
and the firing of cannon, and great trade processions, 
where the good ship " Constitution " had a place of 
prominence, and the " New Roof " was supported by 
eleven completed columns and two as yet unfinished. In 
September Congress decreed that New York should re- 
main for the present the capital ; that the Presidential 
electors should be chosen on the first Wednesday in 
January, 1789; that the electors should meet and cast 
their votes for President and Vice-President on the first 
Wednesday in February, and that the Senate and House 



1789] WASHINGTON INAUGURATED 145 

should assemble on the first Wednesday in March. In 
1789, this day fell on the fourth of the month, and there- 
after the custom was established of beginning each new 
administration on March 4th. New York did not ap- 
point electors — another triumph for Clinton — so that 
only ten States voted for the first President. Congress 
was dilatory in assembling, and not until the sixth did 
the two houses meet together to count the electoral votes. 
There were sixty-nine ballots, all of them for Wash- 
ington as President, and thirty-four of them for John 
Adams as Vice-President. Washington was duly in- 
formed of the honor conferred upon him by a grateful 
nation. On April i6th he wrote in his diary : " About 
ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private 
life and to domestic felicity ; and with a mind oppressed 
with more anxious and painful sensations than I have 
words to express, set out for New York, with the best 
disposition to render service to my country, in obedience 
to its call, but with less hope of answering its expecta- 
tions." 

The statue on the steps of the United States Treasury 
in the City of New York marks the spot where, on April 
30, 1789, on a balcony of what was then Federal Hall, 
this great hero stood, while Chancellor Livingston ad- 
ministered the oath of office. As Washington bent 
reverently to the Sacred Book, a mighty shout arose 
from the assembled throng, " Long live George Wash- 
ington, President of the United States." At last the 
Ship of State was safely launched! 

Washington retired from the balcony to the Senate 
Chamber and read the first inaugural address. In it 
he stated that he should refuse, as he had during the 
Revolution, all pecuniary compensation for his services, 
only accepting repayment, as on the previous occasion. 



146 THE CONSTITUTION [1789 

for money actually expended in the discharge of his 
duties. At the conclusion of the address, the President 
and a large company attended a religious service at 
St. Paul's Church. 

When Washington, on May i, 1789, entered upon his 
duties, the United States Government consisted of a 
President and Vice-President, and the two Houses of 
Congress. The first requirement was to construct gov- 
ernmental machinery, and set it in motion as speedily as 
possible, and the men of ability and experience who 
formed the first Congress were well fitted for the task 
before them. Upon the House of Representatives de- 
volved the Constitutional right of originating revenue 
bills, and as the Treasury was empty this was the first 
subject considered. Customs and excise were the most 
evident sources of revenue, and a tariff bill was soon 
brought before the House. It has been said that : " The 
first House debates on a federal tariff served to bring 
out fairly most of the arguments that have ever done 
service since. For the real difficulty in securing a good 
revenue act has always lain less in determining broad 
principles than in applying those principles to existing 
conditions of trade, so as to favor the whole nation 
against the rest of the world, and not yield too much to 
local interests." In this act tariff was the main issue, 
but, as passed, it had mild protective features, which had 
been gained after excited controversies among members 
who represented constituencies of different industrial 
interests. Congress provided for lighthouses, regulated 
foreign and coasting trade, and established custom-houses 
with the proper officials. Three departments of gov- 
ernment were organized, the Department of State, the 
Treasury, and that of War, each with a secretary in 
charge. 



1789] FEDERAL JUDICIARY ESTABLISHED 147 

In the Senate a bill was framed for the organization of 
the Federal Judiciary. It provided the United States 
Supreme Court with a Chief-Justice and five associates; 
established the lower courts, marshals and district at- 
torneys, much as they exist today. It also created the 
office of Attorney-General. There was much discussion 
as to the proper form of address when communicating 
with the President. The Senate proposed the title " His 
Highness, the President of the United States and Pro- 
tector of their Liberties," but the House insisted on that 
used in the Constitution, " President of the United States 
of America," and, fortunately, this simple and dignified 
form was adopted. Such, in brief, was the work of the 
first session of Congress which laid firmly the founda- 
tions of good government. 

Washington, on assuming office, found no precedents 
by which to guide his conduct in public life. He fully 
recognized the greatness of his official position, but he 
also desired to maintain a freedom from ostentation com- 
patible with republican simplicity. After deliberation, 
and consultation with Jay, Hamilton and Madison, it 
was announced that the President would not return calls 
nor accept invitations to dine ; that he would receive only 
general visitors, on specified days, and official visitors at 
stated hours, and that only persons of official rank and 
strangers of distinction would be invited to dine with 
him. Formal receptions were held from three until four 
o'clock on a certain day of each week, by both Washing- 
ton and Lady Washington, as she was universally called, 
and a large public dinner was given weekly. But not- 
withstanding these seemingly simple and sensible arrange- 
ments, the social side of the administration did not escape 
criticism from the rabid republicanism of the day; and, 
in truth, there was a formality and stateliness inseparable 



148 THE CONSTITUTION [1789 

from Washington himself that has made the " RepubHcan 
Court " a fitting designation for his administration and 
for no other since. Feeling that the people should be 
kept in touch with the general government, Washington, 
during his tenure of office, made several journeys 
through the States both east and south, awakening every- 
where extreme enthusiasm. The journey to Massachu- 
setts had one memorable incident. John Hancock was 
Governor of the State; of him Henry Cabot Lodge re- 
marks: "He was a man of... large wealth and ready 
patriotism, with a great sense of his own importance . . . 
Every external thing about him, from his handsome 
house and his Copley portrait to his imposing gout and 
his immortal signature, was showy and effective." As 
he represented the sovereignty of the State, he felt that 
when on the soil of Massachusetts deference should be 
shown to him. He did not meet the President on his 
arrival, nor call, and consequently Washington did not 
dine with the Governor, as had been arranged. Hancock, 
however, was not quite equal to slighting George Wash- 
ington, even to maintain the dignity of his position. So 
he humbled his pride and wrote an apology, pleading ill- 
ness as an excuse for his neglect, and announcing that 
he would call in half-an-hour, though at the hazard of his 
health. Washington answered at once, expressing his 
pleasure at the prospect of seeing his Excellency, but 
begging him not to do anything to endanger his health. 
" So he appeared, swathed in flannel, and was borne up- 
stairs on men's shoulders and into the presence of Wash- 
ington." Thus was settled forever the question of pre- 
cedence between the Federal and the State officials. 

The duty of filling the chief offices created by Con- 
gress now devolved upon the President, who believed 
three qualifications essential in the men whom he should 



1774] JOHN JAY 149 

select — integrity, capacity and conspicuousness. " I 
want," he said, " men already of marked eminence before 
the country, not only as the more likely to be serviceable, 
but because the country will more readily trust them." 
Public office was not the reward of party service in 
Washington's day, although the office-seeker had already 
sprung into life. John Jay, of New York, was appointed 
Chief- Justice ; General Knox was continued in charge of 
the War Department; Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, 
was made Secretary of State; and Edmund Randolph, 
also of Virginia, Attorney-General. The office of Secre- 
tary of the Treasury was given to the man preeminently 
fitted for it — Alexander Hamilton. Of two of these 
appointments. Jay and Hamilton, it is interesting to know 
more. 

John Jay was born in the City of New York, De- 
cember 12, 1745. His father, Peter Jay, was a wealthy 
and honorable merchant of French Huguenot descent, 
who was loyal to the cause of the colonies. His son, 
when a little past fourteen, entered King's College, then 
small and struggling, now the rich and important Co- 
lumbia University. After graduating, he studied law, 
and soon gained eminence at the bar. When twenty-nine, 
he married the beautiful daughter of William Livingston. 
Some months later, in September, 1774, Jay was sent as 
a delegate to the first Continental Congress. He was a 
devoted patriot and took an active part not only in na- 
tional affairs, but in those of his own State; drafting a 
long succession of state papers and addresses to combat 
the Tory influences of that critical period. He presented 
to the Provincial Congress of New York the Declaration 
of Independence, with this resolution : " That the reasons 
assigned by the Continental Congress for declaring the 
United Colonies free and independent States are cogent 



I50 THE CONSTITUTION [i779 

and conclusive ; and that while we lament the cruel neces- 
sity which has rendered that measure unavoidable, we 
approve the same, and will, at the risk of our lives and 
fortunes, join with the other colonics in supporting it." 
Brave words, for at that very moment British ships-of- 
war were at Tarrytown, within six miles of White Plains, 
where the Assembly was sitting. Jay was President of 
the Continental Congress for two years, and in 1779 was 
made Minister to Spain, where he served his country 
faithfully, under most embarrassing and disagreeable cir- 
cumstances. He was one of the three commissioners to 
treat with England, and with Franklin and Adams 
signed the treaty of peace at Paris. On his return to 
New York (1784) he received from the city fathers an 
address of welcome and the freedom of the city in a gold 
box, while Congress appointed him Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs. In a short time, he made that office the most 
important under the Confederation. John Jay was an 
independent, broad-minded man, of strict integrity and of 
unblemished character. " He might," it has been said, 
" for a time be uncertain as to what was his duty, but the 
moment it was clear to him, he acted accordingly, 
promptly, fearlessly, without regard to personal consider- 
ations. . . It was this singleness and uprightness of pur- 
pose and the firmness with which he adhered to it that 
made John Adams call him ' a Roman ' . . . When he 
had done what he conceived to be his duty, he was satis- 
fied that all was for the best and was undisturbed by 
popular applause or condemnation." He was soon to 
have this serenity of mind subjected to a severe test. 

Alexander Hamilton, who is one of the most remark- 
able men in American history, was born in 1757, on the 
Island of Nevis, in the West Indies. His father, a Scotch 
merchant, was unsuccessful in business, and his mother 



1776] ALEXANDER HAMILTON 151 

dying early, Alexander fell to the care of relatives, and 
received a rather haphazard education, until at the age 
of twelve he was placed in a counting-house. He was 
extraordinarily precocious. At the age of thirteen, his 
employer left him in charge of his affairs, and his sensible 
business letters, written at that time, are still extant. His 
literary ability attracting attention, his relatives decided 
to send him into a wider field. They provided funds, 
and in his fifteenth year Hamilton sailed for the United 
States. On arriving he decided to improve his defective 
education, entered a grammar school and in one year was 
prepared for King's College, where his wonderful talents 
soon attracted attention. New York was Tory in sen- 
timent, and the young West Indian hesitated as to which 
cause he should espouse; but a visit to Boston, that hot- 
bed of resistance, determined him, and he soon had an 
opportunity to declare himself. A great meeting for the 
purpose of arousing public opinion was held by the 
patriots of New York in what is now City Hall Park, 
on July 6, 1774. This was afterwards known as 
the " Great Meeting in the Fields." Hamilton, who 
was present, convinced that the speakers had omitted 
many important points, made his way to the platform 
and faced the great gathering, which stared in amaze- 
ment at this lad of seventeen, who had the assurance 
to address them. But soon all else was forgotten in 
admiration and enthusiasm for the eloquent boy, who 
spoke with such clear logic and sound sense. From 
that moment he took an active part in the exciting 
events of that troubled time. Early in 1776 he was 
placed in command of a New York Artillery Company, 
and took part in the battles of Long Island, Trenton and 
Princeton. His fame as a dashing and gallant officer, 
added to his literary reputation, led Washington to ap- 



15^ THE CONSTITUTION [1782 

point him one of his aids with the rank of Lieutenant- 
Colonel, when he was but just twenty years old. He thus 
became Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, 
a position which he held for four years, when, indignant 
at a reproof from Washington, he resigned and reentered 
the army ; fortunately, the estrangement between the two 
great men was not lasting. When twenty-three years old, 
Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler, the charming 
daughter of General Philip Schuyler, and the alliance 
with this wealthy and important family bound him firmly 
to New York. At the close of the war, after a few 
months' study of law, he was admitted to the bar. In 
1782 he was sent to Congress, and the financial condition 
of the country became his profound study. Hamilton 
had undoubtedly the most brilliant mind of his day ; he 
was upright, brave and sagacious, and his charming per- 
sonality won for him a host of devoted friends. 

At thirty-two he became Washington's Secretary of the 
Treasury and initiated a financial policy which estab- 
lished on a firm foundation the national government. 

Among the important measures of Congress Hamilton's 
Reports are by far the most noteworthy. His first paper 
was a masterly exposition of the financial condition of the 
country and the heroic measures necessary to afford relief. 
He proposed to fund the public debt, both domestic and 
foreign, and to have the general Government assume all 
the State debts incurred during the war. These propo- 
sals created heated debate, not only in Congress, but 
throughout the country. There was no difference of opin- 
ion about paying the foreign debt in full, but the domestic 
debt was thought another matter. It was claimed that 
Government paper had been bought for a trifle from the 
original holders, so that speculators would now be the 
ones benefited and not honest creditors. As for assump- 



1790 "ASSUMPTION" 153 

tion — that plan would be unjust to those States which 
had already paid a part of their indebtedness by taxation 
or the sale of their western lands. The Federalists an- 
swered that the Government had not been able to pre- 
vent the decline in values, but that the United States 
Government owed a debt and should pay its obligations 
in full, no matter who held its notes ; and as ready money 
could not be obtained the debt must be funded. As for 
assumption, the States had contracted these debts in de- 
fense of the whole Union and they should be relieved of 
their heavy burden by the nation they had helped. Bills 
favoring funding and assumption were at once intro- 
duced, and excitedly debated for seven months. A debt 
of eighty million dollars was a vast sum for a young 
nation to carry and it would be necessary to fund this 
amount in order to execute Hamilton's plan. The bills 
finally passed, in August, 1790, the Government pledging 
the payment of six per cent, interest on the new certifi- 
cates. Assumption had been the cause of intense bitter- 
ness between the States, North and South, and that it 
was finally accepted was owing to a bargain ; certain 
northern delegates voted for the establishment of the per- 
manent national Capital on the bank of the Potomac ; and, 
in return, southern votes were cast for assumption. 

In 1790, Congress accepted the cession of Tennessee by 
North Carolina, with the condition that " no regulation 
made or to be made by Congress shall tend to emancipate 
slaves." In 1791, Vermont and Kentucky were admitted, 
one with a free and the other with a slave Constitution. 
Thus was begun the fatal policy of striving to maintain 
an equilibrium between freedom and slavery. 

Assumption had made necessary an increase of revenue 
and Hamilton reported the necessity of an excise. A 
bill was promptly passed in 1791, placing a tax on do- 



154 THE CONSTITUTION [i794 

mestic distilled spirits and increasing the tariff on for- 
eign. " It would be," remarked a member, " like drink- 
ing down the national debt." It proved a most unpalata- 
ble draught, for there was strong opposition to the tax. 
Throughout the country there were thousands of small 
stills ; in Pennsylvania alone there were some three thou- 
sand. The farmer who found it difficult to convey his 
grain to the distant market, turned it into spirits, and 
obtained an article of more value and one easier to trans- 
port. As the Constitution declares that taxes must be 
uniform throughout the country, these distant farmers 
were obliged to pay the same as the distillers along tide- 
water or navigable rivers. All this aroused great bitter- 
ness of feeling and the tax-gatherers were insulted and 
resisted. In 1794, the first year of Washington's second 
term, this ill-feeling broke into rebellion in Western Penn- 
sylvania. Fifteen thousand militia were called out and 
the " Whiskey Insurrection " was soon quelled, but one 
good resulted — the people learned that they had a strong 
Government that could not be trifled with. 

The day after the excise report, Hamilton sent to Con- 
gress an elaborate plan for the chartering of a national 
bank. The opponents of his financial policy fought the 
scheme at once. They declared that the Government had 
no power, under the Constitution, to establish a bank. 
Hamilton's answer was of vital importance, and has had 
immeasurable consequences. In a masterly argument he 
advanced the doctrine of the " implied powers " of Con- 
gress, granted by the Constitution. He based his claim, 
which Chief-Justice Marshall afterwards confirmed, upon 
the concluding clause of Section VIII. in the first Article 
of the Constitution. This section recounts the powers of 
Congress and the final clause reads : " To make all laws 
which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 



I79I] BANK OF THE UNITED STATES 155 

execution the foregoing powers ; and other powers vested 
by this Constitution in the Government of the United 
States, or in any department or officer thereof." This 
is sometimes called the " elastic clause," for it can be 
stretched to confer power to almost any extent upon the 
Federal Government. Undoubtedly, this liberal inter- 
pretation of the authority of the general Government has 
greatly assisted in building up a powerful nation. Ham- 
ilton declared the bank a necessary part of the Govern- 
ment's financial policy, and after long debate, the bill 
finally passed. The national Capital had been removed 
from New York to Philadelphia, and the bank was estab- 
lished in the latter city. It was styled The Bank of the 
United States, Its capital was $10,000,000, in shares of 
$400. The United States was permitted to subscribe 
for $2,000,000 of this amount, leaving the remaining 
$8,000,000 to be taken by the public. Congress pledged 
itself to incorporate no other bank for twenty years, the 
term for which the new bank was chartered. Twenty- 
five directors, all citizens of the United States, were to 
be chosen, discount rates were not to exceed six per cent., 
and loans to foreign powers were prohibited. So eager 
was the public to obtain the stock that the twenty thou- 
sand shares were taken in one day, and people clamored 
for more. A wild speculation in the bank stock followed, 
with the inevitable consequences of a fall in inflated val- 
ues, followed by the same distress and discontent that 
result from a Wall Street panic of today. 

Hamilton also sent to Congress an exhaustive report 
upon American manufactures, in which he advocated a 
plan for the protection of infant industries. A slight 
change in tariff was the only result, but it was the enter- 
ing wedge for the protective policy of the future. 

The Secretary also succeeded in establishing a mint 



iS6 THE CONSTITUTION [1792 

(1792). There was a heated controversy over the pro- 
posal to stamp upon one side of the coins a head of the 
President of the United States, for the time being ; rabid 
RepubHcans fought as though only this was necessary to 
estabhsh a monarchy and it was finally decided to substi- 
tute an emblematical figure of liberty. 

The value of Hamilton's reports has been thus summed 
up : " From these reports came the funding system, the 
revenue system, the sinking fund, national banking and 
the first enunciation of the protective policy. They car- 
ried with them the great doctrine of the implied powers 
of the Constitution. . . So far as public policy could do 
it they laid the foundation of the material prosperity of 
the United States." 

During Washington's first term, there was constant 
trouble with the Indians. It was determined to win the 
good-will of the Creeks, a southern tribe, and they were 
invited to send a delegation to the Capital, then at New 
York. Twenty-five came, led by their Chief, Andrew 
McGillivray, whose father had been a Scotch trader. The 
following is an amusing account of their reception : " The 
Tammany Societ)% or Columbian Order, a charitable 
order recently formed, . . . received the Indian braves 
at the Wall Street landing and escorted them to their 
lodgings at the City Tavern, with much ostentation. Con- 
gress saluting the party from the balcony of Federal Hall, 
and the President, the Secretary of War and the Governor 
of New York afterwards extending in turn an impressive 
welcome. McGillivray was dressed in a suit of plain 
scarlet, the other warriors appeared in their national 
habit, and as the procession moved up Wall Street, the 
Chiefs sang their peculiar song. Tammany names and 
manners imitated those of the Indian country ; and while 
McGillivray was abundantly flattered on his mother's be- 



1793] INDIAN POLICY 157 

half, during his stay, the Scotch side of his character was 
gently assailed by the St. Andrew's Society." The result 
of these delicate attentions was a treaty of peace and 
good-will, the first that the new nation had made with 
an Indian tribe. Congress had previously passed an act 
forbidding all trade with Indian tribes without a license 
from the President, and prohibiting the purchase of In- 
dian lands, except under the authority of the Govern- 
ment. This was the beginning of the Indian policy of 
the United States. The tribes of the northwest, insti- 
gated by the English, who still held the frontier forts, 
gave serious trouble. Many small settlements had sprung 
up along the Ohio and its tributaries, and these were con- 
stantly attacked. An expedition was sent out under Gen- 
eral Harmer, but his troops were drawn into an ambush 
and defeated. This short and disastrous campaign was 
followed two years later by a larger and better equipped 
expedition under General St. Clair, the Governor of the 
Northwest Territory. Washington warned him, at part- 
ing, to beware of a surprise, but, notwithstanding, St. 
Clair was taken unawares in his camp and his army cut 
to pieces. This terrible disaster shocked the nation and 
the President without delay organized a fresh force and 
appointed General Wayne — the Mad Anthony Wayne 
of the Revolution — its commander. He was completely 
successful, destroyed many Indian villages, and so broke 
the power of the tribes that they sued for peace and 
signed a treaty by which they surrendered large tracts of 
territory to the Government. 

By the close of Washington's first term, a change had 
taken place in the political parties of the day. Hamilton 
had become the leader of the Federalists — the party in 
power; Jefferson of the new party — the Republican, in 
which were included those who had formerly been Anti- 



158 THE CONSTITUTION [i793 

Federalists. Several causes led to the rise of the Repub- 
lican party. There were many Americans who saw in 
every act that tended to strengthen the Federal Govern- 
ment a menace to free institutions. Hamilton's doctrine 
of the " implied powers " and his evident desire to make 
the Government strong and great was distasteful to them 
and particularly so to the state rights sentiment of the 
South. His plans for protection, the bank and his entire 
financial policy filled them with rage. They declared 
that it tended to establish a class of speculators, wealthy 
manufacturers and merchants, at the expense of the farm- 
ers and the common people. To those who saw a crown 
above the proposed impress of a President's head on a 
coin and danger to free institutions in the gowns worn 
by the judges of the United States Supreme Court, a 
moneyed class meant a future aristocracy and its attend- 
ant evils. Jefferson was the idol of the people who held 
these views, for he was the most democratic of democrats. 
While Hamilton, who was an aristocrat in feeling, though 
a most loyal and patriotic man, naturally became the 
leader of the conservative element, of the mercantile class 
and of those who favored a strong central Government. 
He was a bold and imperious leader, but Jefferson was 
the better organizer and therefore able, in time, to build 
up a stronger party. 

The Revenue Bill, the Assumption Act and the fund- 
ing system had established public credit, and were bring- 
ing to the country remarkable prosperity. The nation 
had started upon that wonderful course which, within 
one hundred years, was to make the United States one 
of the richest and most powerful nations of the earth. 
Mills and factories were springing up, immigration rap- 
idly increasing the population ; and everywhere the fertile 
soil responded bountifully to the efforts of the husband- 



1793] HAMILTON'S POLICY ATTACKED 159 

man. But there was much truth in the complaints against 
speculators. A mania for speculation had seized the peo- 
ple. Western land schemes and companies of all kinds 
were promoted, while speculation in bank stock and Gov- 
ernment paper was a passing madness dubbed " Scripo- 
phobia." When the inevitable panic followed, the people 
abused the Government instead of their own lack of 
judgment. 

The excise was another source of bitterness and dis- 
content. All these causes tended to build up a powerful 
opposition to the policy of the Federalists. Washington, 
not a party man himself, saw growing a strong opposi- 
tion to his administration, and found it a difficult matter 
to maintain peace between the two most important mem- 
bers of his Cabinet. Jefferson had lately returned from 
France, imbued with the spirit of those mad days when 
even nobles and princes were writing odes in favor of lib- 
erty, equality and fraternity and American Republican- 
ism seemed very tame in comparison. But he misjudged 
his countrymen whose patriotism was sound but not gush- 
ing. Jefferson gave to Philip Freneau, a journalist and 
magazine writer, the position of translating clerk in the 
State Department. Freneau proceeded to establish a 
journal called the National Gazette, which began a series 
of attacks upon the administration, and Hamilton in par- 
ticular. Jefferson has been accused of writing many of 
these articles ; and if he was innocent of that charge, he 
certainly was guilty of a great breach of good faith in 
retaining in the employ of the State Department a man 
violently abusing the Government. A great cry was 
raised against Hamilton's " corrupt squadrons " in Con- 
gress, it being claimed that Hamilton used Government 
funds to secure votes on his measures and was helping 
his speculating friends by loans from public moneys. 



i6o THE CONSTITUTION [i793 

Hamilton convinced Washington of his entire innocence, 
and then stung to madness by the mahcious slanders of 
the National Gazette, rushed into print, and lashed Jef- 
ferson over Freneau's shoulders. He wrote anony- 
mously but no one failed to recognize his brilliant peri- 
ods. It is not strange that Washington needed the most 
urgent appeals to consent to serve another term and that 
he exclaimed : " I would rather go to my farm, take 
my spade in my hand, and work for my bread, than 
remain where I am." Notwithstanding that party feel- 
ing ran high, Washington was unanimously reelected. 
John Adams, Federalist, was again made Vice-President, 
while George Clinton received the electoral vote of the 
Republican party for that office. 

In the Congress of 1792-3, the Republicans made a 
fresh attack upon Hamilton. They introduced a series of 
resolutions, demanding an investigation of the Treasury, 
and hinting at a discrepancy of one and a half million 
dollars in the public accounts. Hamilton and his friends 
gave the inquiry full scope. Report after report from 
the Treasury Department poured in upon Congress, and 
before the session closed, everything was exposed to the 
public gaze. Hamilton's strict integrity was proved and 
he was vindicated by an overwhelming vote. There is 
an old saying that " there must be a little fire where there 
is so much smoke/' and this much of truth was back of 
these violent partisan cries of " national stock- jobbing " 
and " aristocracy-jobbing." Hamilton at heart distrusted 
the people and the stability of free institutions and he felt 
it important to rally to the support of the Government a 
wealthy and powerful class. To further this end he was 
not averse to his agents disclosing Treasury secrets, where 
they would result in the most good — politically. He never 
personally benefited by his position and he died a poor man. 



1793] FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAW i6i 

One of the last acts of the Congress then in session 
was to pass, on February 5, 1793, in accordance with a 
clause of the Constitution, a Fugitive Slave Law, of 
which little notice was taken at the time but which, at a 
later date, became a fruitful source of trouble. 



CHAPTER IX 
PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 

In considering the principal events of Washington's 
second term, which began March 4, 1793, it is neces- 
sary to treat exclusively of the foreign relations of the 
Government. 

It has been said that American patriotism was " not 
gushing," but the country now entered upon a scene of 
national excitement that seems to belie that statement. 
Hatred for England was still rampant, and friendliness 
of feeling towards France was a natural return for the 
assistance she had rendered. Therefore the news that 
France had imprisoned her king and proclaimed a Repub- 
lic threw all America into a ferment and the event was 
celebrated with joy throughout the country. McMaster 
gives an interesting account of these extravagant demon- 
strations: In Boston, a roasted ox was placed on an 
elaborate car twenty feet high and drawn by sixteen 
horses. It was decorated with French and American 
flags, and bore the inscription : " An Offering to Liberty 
and Equality." Four carts followed, laden with eight 
hundred loaves of bread and several hogsheads of punch. 
After parading through the streets and dedicating an 
open plot of ground as Liberty Square, the procession 
halted on State Street and distributed the bread, meat 
and punch to the crowd, while zest was given to the 
repast by the announcement that the fat ox '* represented 

162 



1793] SYMPATHY FOR FRANCE 163 

aristocracy, a peace-offering " (probably a burnt one) 
" on the altar of democracy to Liberty, Equality and the 
Rights of Man." In the afternoon the school children 
were drawn up on State Street, and that they might bet- 
ter remember the occasion, were each given a cake, 
stamped with the words " Liberty and Equality." At 
Faneuil Hall the French Consul was entertained in a 
room adorned with flags, mottoes, cherubs, broken 
crowns and sceptres and a great eye of Providence, which 
was supposed to look benignly down on the scene of love 
and unity below. At night a huge lantern was run up to 
the top of a liberty pole and threw its light over the 
city. On one side was painted the ruins of the Bastile 
and on the other a prostrate British lion and beneath him 
the wish that " he might never rise till he did so in sup- 
port of the liberties of mankind." The rage spread, the 
French cockade was universally worn and a liberty cap 
hung in every house. It became the fashion to use the 
address " Citizen " instead of the usual form of " Mr." ; 
it even appeared in the notices of death and marriage. 
News traveled slowly in those days and it was many 
months before the tidings reached America that France 
had beheaded her King and declared war against Eng- 
land. This changed the aspect of affairs, for cooler, 
more thoughtful men were shocked at the excesses of the 
revolutionists and saw the danger that threatened Amer- 
ica. Washington had a well-defined policy which he had 
matured on first taking office; it was that the United 
States should keep clear of all foreign complications, 
for he believed that peace was necessary for the firm 
establishment of the new Government. The policy of 
non-intervention was to many unwelcome, but the Ameri- 
can of today realizes how greatly it has conduced to the 
happiness and prosperity of his countrymen. All Wash- 



1 64 PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON [i793 

ington's firmness and wisdom were needed, for there was 
to be a sharp and bitter division of pubHc opinion. The 
situation was serious and complicated by the fact that the 
American Government had treaties of alHance and com- 
merce with France, which permitted privateers and their 
prizes to seek shelter in American ports, while there were 
no treaties with England. Washington consulted with 
his Cabinet and it was unanimously decided to issue a 
proclamation of neutrality. This declared that the United 
States would pursue a line of conduct friendly and im- 
partial to both belligerents, and warned all citizens 
against aiding or abetting either side, for in such case 
they would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 

On the day the proclamation was issued, the new Min- 
ister from the French Republic, Edmond Charles Genet, 
landed at Charleston, South Carolina. The city was 
strongly Republican and Citizen Genet received an en- 
thusiastic welcome. Acting under secret instructions 
from his Government, he at once adopted a course in- 
tended to force the United States into an alliance with 
France against England. He fitted out two privateers, 
manned them with American seamen, hoisted the French 
flag above their decks, and sent them forth to cruise for 
British merchantmen homeward bound from the West 
Indies. Several prizes were captured ; one, " The 
Grange," was most unlawfully taken within the capes 
of Delaware Bay. Genet having done all the mischief 
possible in that quarter, sent his ships north to make a 
dramatic arrival at Philadelphia and followed them by 
land. His frigate sailed up the Delaware River, accom- 
panied by her prizes, with the English flag reversed, and 
the French flag flying above it. The figure-head wore a 
liberty cap and many mottoes were displayed ; one was : 
" We are armed to defend the rights of man " ; and an- 



1793] EDMOND CHARLES GEN^T 165 

other : " Freemen, we are your friends and brothers." 
The enthusiasm that followed Genet's arrival surpassed 
all previous extravagances ; he was the hero of the hour. 
At a great banquet given in his honor, the Marseillaise 
was sung, the " fraternal hug " exchanged and the red 
liberty cap was taken from Genet's head and allowed to 
rest for a few moments upon the head of each one pres- 
ent. Democratic societies were formed throughout the 
States to conserve liberty, equality and the rights of man ; 
and this object, they seemed to think, was best obtained 
by heaping abuse upon their own Government. Wash- 
ington had before him the difficult task not only of 
maintaining neutrality, but of teaching his countrymen 
that they must have a distinct national policy of their 
own. Not only was his administration now attacked, but 
he was subjected to the bitterest personal abuse in the 
pages of Freneau's National Gazette and the Aurora, 
published by Bache, Benjamin Franklin's grandson 
and namesake. Genet naturally presumed upon the 
popular fervor everywhere expressed for him and his 
cause. In his first interview with the President, he re- 
quested that the United States should at once pay to 
France a portion of the money owing her, though not yet 
due, as his Government needed it to prosecute the war. 
This proposal was declined, as were other like plans. 
Displeased at this, and at his cool but courteous reception 
and still trusting to the popular clamor, he proceeded to 
defy the President. The English Minister had com- 
plained of the fitting out of French privateers in Amer- 
ican ports, and the American Government insisted that 
Genet should restore " The Grange," which had been 
taken in neutral waters. This he consented to do but 
he disputed the right of the Government to prohibit him 
from fitting out privateers. Washington notified both 



1 66 PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON [i793 

powers and then issued orders that all vessels fitted out 
in American seaports as privateers should be seized and 
the sale of their prizes prevented. Genet thereupon con- 
ferred authority upon French Consuls to decide prize 
questions, as courts of admiralty, and proceeded to evade 
the order regarding privateers. He began to fit out a 
British vessel, " The Little Sarah," which had been taken 
as a prize, re-naming her " The Little Democrat." His 
plan being discovered as she was about to sail, he prom- 
ised to detain her, but unfaithful to his word, sent her 
to sea. In the contention that followed Genet arrogantly 
asserted that he would " appeal from the President to the 
people." Washington indignantly wrote to Jefferson : 
" Is the Minister of the French Republic to set the acts 
of this Government at defiance with impunity? And 
then threaten the executive with an appeal to the people ! 
What must the world think of such conduct and of the 
Government of the United States in submitting to it ? " 
Washington expressed his opinion in no uncertain tone 
— he requested Genet's recall. Genet was now informed 
that he must make restitution of prizes captured by 
French privateers fitted out in American ports, and in 
case of non-compliance, the United States would compen- 
sate the owners and look to the French Government for 
indemnity. The fact of Genet's defiance of Washington 
having become known, he sank rapidly in public favor. 
As his Government, when recalling him, expressed de- 
cided disapproval of his conduct, he thought it wiser not 
to return to France. Married to a daughter of George 
Clinton, he lived quietly in New York for many years. 

During this troubled time, the two secretaries, Jeffer- 
son and Hamilton, had been at swords' points, the one 
urging a vigorous policy toward France, the other hating 
England and sympathizing with, if not approving of, his 



1794] THE JAY TREATY 167 

country's former ally. The two parties had sharply 
divided on the question of foreign relations and Jefferson, 
though Secretary of State, was the leader of the oppo- 
sition. Both men finally resigned from the Cabinet, but 
before Jefferson retired he did good service by his cor- 
respondence with Mr. George Hammond, the British 
Minister, in which he vigorously protested against Eng- 
land's aggressive interference with American commerce. 
England claimed the right to stop all vessels bound for 
France, freighted with corn, flour and meal, and on mak- 
ing due payment take possession of the cargo. This 
forced a neutral power to supply one belligerent to the 
detriment of the other. American vessels were declared 
liable to condemnation on the attempt to enter a block- 
aded port. But more outrageous than all else she claimed 
the right to search American ships wherever waylaid and 
confiscate her enemy's property if found on board. If, 
perchance, any of the sailors in her eyes appeared to be 
English rather than American, she helped herself to them 
also. 

In the midst of the excitement and irritation caused by 
these aggressive acts, Washington sent to Congress the 
name of John Jay, to be a special envoy to London to 
negotiate a treaty. The President had little hope of a 
successful issue, but he determined to do all in his power 
to obtain a settlement of the disputed questions and main- 
tain an honorable peace. The appointment was confirmed 
and Jay on arriving in England received a cordial wel- 
come. 

By an article of the treaty, which he succeeded in ne- 
gotiating, England, on condition that the so-called British 
debts were paid, agreed to surrender the northwest forts 
on June i, 1796, but Lord Grenville refused to make any 
concessions on the subject of search and impressment. 



i68 PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON [i795 

There were in all twenty-eight articles which dealt with 
commercial questions and the subject of privateers and 
prizes. Briefly stated, the chief objections were that 
while the English debts were to be paid, the counter- 
claim for negroes carried off was not allowed. The right 
of search was not renounced ; restrictions were placed 
upon American trade with the British colonies in the 
West Indies and to the north, and no compensation was 
made for the retention of the forts. On the other hand, 
America did regain them, which was vastly important to 
her national welfare ; moreover, England agreed to pay 
for those ships which had been illegally captured by 
her privateers, and also granted rights and privileges, 
which were most favorable to an increase of trade with 
India. It was an unsatisfactory treaty, but it settled a 
few important matters and smoothed away some sources 
of present irritation ; on the whole it would be a benefit 
to the country and Washington decided to sign it. He 
summoned a special session of the Senate June 8, 1795, 
and laid the treaty before it. The greatest secrecy had 
been maintained, but in some manner Bache had obtained 
information that enabled him to publish the main points 
in his paper, the Aurora, and fearing that a garbled re- 
port would do harm, one of the senators sent him a copy 
to print. When it became known the country was swept 
by a tempest of indignant protest, the treaty was vio- 
lently denounced and the popular wrath found expression 
in insults to the British flag, rioting and burning in 
effigy. This wild disorder was assiduously encouraged 
by the partisans of France, but fortunately there are al- 
ways men wise and cool, and as in the Genet affair, they 
gathered to the support of the President. 

On July 17, 1795, a mass-meeting was held in New 
York, in front of Federal Hall, at which Hamilton at- 



1796] JAY TREATY ATTACKED 169 

tempted to say a good word for the treaty ; but he was 
howled down and assailed with a volley of stones. One 
struck him, when he coolly remarked : " If you use such 
striking arguments, I must retire." And he did, but 
for one year, under the nom de plume of " Camillus," 
he published an essay every week in favor of neutrality 
and peace, and in support of the treaty and the adminis- 
tration. Insults to Jay and the British flag were the 
favorite sport of Republicans, and toasts such as these 
were very popular: ''The Republic of America! May 
she never mistake Jay-birds for eagles ! " " May the 
cage constructed to coop up the American eagle prove 
a trap for none but King-birds and Jays." One editor 
wrote in his paper : " The devil, in the form of a snake, 
seduced our first parents, and ruined the world. The 
same evil genius, in the form of an American Jay, has 
seduced our Senate and ruined a nation." There was 
wild talk of impeaching the President, and February 22d 
afforded an opportunity for Congress to affront him. 
It was moved that the House adjourn for half an hour. 
The members, it was stated, had always been in the habit 
of offering congratulations to the President, on his birth- 
day, and the time should be now given them. The Re- 
publicans refused to adjourn for this purpose, although 
it was a practice never before omitted. 

The treaty, having passed the Senate by exactly the 
necessary two-thirds vote, was signed by the President 
and thus became the law. The House of Representatives 
thereupon (March, 1796) requested the President to lay 
before them his instructions to Jay and all correspondence 
and documents relating to the treaty. This Washington 
refused, stating that the treaty-making power was vested 
by the Constitution solely in the President and Senate, 
and treaties, so made, were, by the Constitution, pro- 



I70 PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON [1796 

nounced " the supreme law of the land." Washington 
understood that the request was a partisan move, but he 
felt that it struck at the fundamental principles of the 
Constitution and was a direct encroachment on the rights 
of the executive department. The House attempted to 
take its revenge some weeks later, when a motion was 
made on the Federal side for an appropriation to execute 
the treaty. The Republicans determined to vote this 
down. Fearing that rejection would mean not only war 
with Great Britain but civil strife as well, the whole coun- 
try was aroused. The people were becoming calmer; the 
mercantile classes were alarmed at the depression in trade 
and meetings were now held in the commercial States, in 
support of the President and his policy. 

The debate in the House closed dramatically when 
Fisher Ames of Massachusetts delivered " the most elo- 
quent speech ever heard in Congress by his generation." 
He was ill and his physician had opposed his speaking, 
but pale and feeble when he arose, the excitement of the 
occasion soon lent him strength and fire. He set forth 
the inconsistency of permitting a treaty to be ratified in 
every particular and then claiming the right of defeating 
the execution afterwards : " the wound to the public 
honor of the nation, should the public faith be violated, 
the certainty of both foreign war and anarchy, should 
the proposed treaty fail in this manner ! " He pictured 
the new frontier war which would be provoked by Brit- 
ain's continued retention of the posts. In concluding, he 
said : " I have, perhaps, as little personal interest in the 
event as any one here. There is, I believe, no member 
who will not think his chance to be a witness of the con- 
sequences greater than mine. If, however, the vote 
should pass to reject, and a spirit should rise, as it will, 
with the public disorders, to make confusion worse con- 



1796] JAY ELECTED GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 171 

founded, even I, slender and almost broken as my hold 
on life is, may outlive the Government and Constitution 
of my country." This speech, wrung from one apparently 
on the verge of the grave, carried the day, and the appro- 
priation was finally passed by a vote of fifty-one to forty- 
eight. Only four negative votes were cast by New Eng- 
land and but four in the affirmative by the South. 

At this time an incident in the political history of the 
State of New York, while discreditable to the party in 
power, yet proved the ability of the people to redress their 
wrongs. George Clinton had been Governor continu- 
ously for fifteen years when the Federalists nominated 
Jay for that office. Finding that the election had gone 
against Clinton, the returning board, on an alleged tech- 
nical error, threw out the returns from three counties 
where Jay had a large vote. The people of the State, 
indignant at this high-handed measure, nominated ]ay^ 
at the next election, while he was in England, and elected 
him. This explains the fact that the most unpopular man 
in the country was installed as Governor of a great State. 
Fortunately, when the tempest subsided, Jay received the 
regard he so well merited. 

Washington, in spite of the abuse that had been heaped 
upon him, was loved and honored by the vast majority of 
his countrymen, and they would gladly have placed him 
again in the President's chair, but he firmly declined to 
serve for a third term, and thus set a precedent that has 
now binding force. The attacks upon Washington by 
the Republican press throughout the country continued, 
and the Aurora of March 6, 1797, thus spoke of his 
retirement from office : " ' Lord, now lettest Thou Thy 
servant depart in peace! ' was the pious ejaculation of a 
pious man who beheld a flood of happiness rushing in 
upon mankind. If ever there was a time that would 



172 PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON [1796 

license the reiteration of the ejaculation, that time has 
now arrived, for the man who is the source of all the mis- 
fortunes of our country is this day reduced to a level with 
his fellow-citizens, and is no longer possessed of power 
to multiply evils upon the United States. If ever there 
was a period for rejoicing, this is the moment. Every 
heart in unison with the freedom and happiness of the 
people, ought to beat high with exultation that the name 
of Washington ceases from this day to give currency to 
political insults and to legalize corruption." This is more 
than enough to show how the noblest patriot, the purest 
and wisest of statesmen was attacked ; and pity it is that 
a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin should have 
been his chief assailant. Washington out of the race, 
for the first time two parties contended for the Presi- 
dency. The Federalists nominated John Adams and the 
Republicans Thomas Jefferson. After an exciting cam- 
paign, Adams won by three votes in the electoral college, 
and Jefferson having the next highest number was de- 
clared Vice-President, according to the method of elec- 
tion at that time. A result most singular, for it made the 
leader of the opposition President of the Senate and in 
case of the President's death his successor in that high 
office. 

Washington's Farewell Message (September 17, 1796) 
is a priceless legacy which has deeply affected National 
life and policy. The following brief extracts indicate the 
soundness of his advice : ** The unity of government 
which constitutes you one people ... is a main pillar 
in the edifice of your real independence, the support of 
your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your 
safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you 
so highly prize." " It occurs as a matter of serious con- 
cern that any ground should have been furnished for 



1796] WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL MESSAGE 173 

characterizing parties by geographical discriminations — 
northern and southern, Atlantic and zvestern; whence 
designing men may endeavor to excite a beHef that there 
is a real difference of local interests and views. One of 
the expedients of the party to acquire influence within 
particular districts is, to misrepresent the opinions and 
aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too 
much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which 
spring from these misrepresentations. They tend to ren- 
der alien to each other those who ought to be bound 
together by fraternal affection." " The great rule of con- 
duct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending 
our commercial relations, to have with them as little po- 
litical connexion as possible. . . Europe has a set of 
primary interests which to us have none or a very remote 
relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequent con- 
troversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to 
our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us 
to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary 
vicissitudes of her politics . . . Our detached and dis- 
tant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different 
course. . . Why forego the advantages of so peculiar 
a situation ? . . . Why, by interweaving our destiny with 
that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and 
prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, 
interest, humor or caprice ? It is our true policy to steer 
clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the for- 
eign world . . . Harmony and a liberal intercourse with 
all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and 
interest." 



cuArri-.K \ 
rRESlDlCNC'V ()l< JOHN ADAMS 

On Afaivli .|, \'j>^)'j, Joliii .Adaius booamo ihc second 
Tivsidoiil of tlio rnilod Slates. It has been said that tlie 
Adams family, early settlers upon the soil of Massachu- 
setts, inibibiul soiiuihinj;- of the s;ranite oi their native 
hills. b>lui .Adams certainly posses.sed a i"uj;i;ed, uprii^ht 
nalnie and a certain hardness was not lackinj;" in his 
character, but his U-ttcrs to his noble wife slunv him to 
have been a man of hii;h ideals and most kind and 
thon.i;htful for those tlear to him. The si>n o\ a farmer, 
;i i^radnate oi llarvaril (,\)lle_t;e and an .able lawver. he 
was earl\ distiuj^uisIuHl in the paliii^t cause, lie placeil 
his name to the Peclaration i>f Independence, was one 
o\ the three who siL;i\ril the Treaty o\ Peace at Paris, 
and was the first .American Minister at the l'aii;lish Court. 
\ ice-1'resident under \\'ashinj;tiMi. he was now to receive, 
as a reward for lwcnt\-three \i\us oi faithftd seivice. 
the ^icatest luMU^r his countrymen cmilil besttnv. llis 
administration was a stormy jXM-iiHl and residted in the 
cnortbrow of the bVderalist Tarty, biU on the whole it 
was advauta,i;einis lor the country, as it settleil for a 
lime the vexed and dangerous (luestion of the forei.i;'u 
ri'lalitMis o\ the (u>veruuuMU. iMance was incensed at the 
Jay Treaty and relations with her were ucnv to become 
as serious as those with iMij^land hail iirevimisly been. 

It has been said: " Vo sketch the ailministration of 

»74 



1797] FORIUGN RHLAriONS 175 

John Adams... must show us great men appearing 
small, true patriots forgetting their eountry in anxiety 
for their party, honest men made pnrhhnd by jirejuchee 
and straying perilously near the line of ilishonor. The 
story of these four years. . .is largely a tale of the most 
bitter feud in American History... Hie (juarrel be- 
tween Adams and Hamilton constitutes a chapter which 
one who admires either of them would like to omit... 
It was a wretched affair, in which heroes became petty 
and noble men ceased to inspire respect." At this jicriod 
the press teemed with coarse and vindent abuse of men 
and measures, but for America's credit, it can be said, 
that the most prominent anil venomous eiliti)rs were for- 
eign-born. 

Adams, on taking office, retained the members of 
Washington's Cabinet as his own. Timothy Pickering 
was Secretary of State, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Secretary of 
the Treasury and James Mel lenry Secretary of War. 
This was a fatal mistake; he should have placed near him 
men owing their atlvancement to him, who would have 
felt a sense of loyalty to their chief. 

During the last year of Washington's administration, 
James Monroe, Minister to h'rance. having proved indis- 
creet in the management of the Government's foreign 
relations, the President recalled him and appointed 
Charles C. Pinckney to succeed him. Immediately on 
Adams' taking office, the startling news arrivetl that the 
Directory, then administering the French (lovernment, 
had refused to receive Pinckney and even threatened him 
with arrest if he remained in France, while to emphasize 
the insult they had tendered a farewell ovation to Monroe 
on his departure. The Presitlcnt called a special session 
of Congress for IMay 15th. and in a vigorous and patri- 
otic message placed the matter before them. He desired 



176 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN ADAMS [i797 

to maintain Washington's policy of avoiding foreign en- 
tanglements, and he felt that war should be prevented, if 
possible, so he proposed to send three Commissioners to 
France to attempt a settlement of the difficulty, but he 
appealed to Congress to provide meanwhile for the na- 
tional defense and to strengthen the navy. The Com- 
missioners selected were, Charles C. Pinckney, John 
Marshall and Elbridge Gerry. On arriving in France, 
they were not permitted to wait upon the Directory and 
present their credentials ; instead, they were visited by 
three agents of Talleyrand and the Directory, who pro- 
posed that they should agree to the payment of a large 
sum of money, to be distributed among certain members 
of the Directory ; this would obtain for them an audience 
and, it was hinted, might bring success to their mission. 
These audacious propositions were put in writing, and, 
on other occasions, equally impertinent and venal de- 
mands were made. After many weeks, spent in a vain 
attempt to hold communication with the Government, 
instead of its corrupt agents, Talleyrand announced that 
he would treat with Gerry only. The other envoys 
promptly protested and then left Paris, leaving Gerry to 
contend unsuccessfully with the wily Talleyrand, and to 
return home some months later, to be censured for re- 
maining after the departure of his colleagues. The Pres- 
ident received reports of the entire matter and with a 
spirited message submitted the documents to Congress. 
The names of the Directory agents were designated by 
the letters X, Y and Z, and the X, Y, Z despatches set 
the country in a blaze. The warlike spirit of the Pres- 
ident's message met a hearty response. There was a 
tremendous outburst of patriotism. '' Hail, Columbia ! " 
was written and became, at once, the popular song, while 
Pinckney's declaration, " millions for defense, but not 



1798] THREE UNPOPULAR MEASURES 177 

one cent for tribute," was on every tongue. The Pres- 
ident and the FederaHsts were now on the top wave of 
popularity, and the next Congress was largely of that 
party. But it was a dangerous moment for the Federal- 
ists, who so suddenly found the opposition humbled and 
an excited nation in accord with them; and in fact, they 
now proceeded to work their own ruin by passing three 
bills — the New Naturalization Act, the Alien Act and 
the Sedition Act. 

By the first, the term of residence necessary to qualify 
a foreigner for citizenship was prolonged from five years 
to fourteen years, and during that time he must be regis- 
tered and reported. The Alien Act, which was limited to 
two years, empowered the President to banish aliens from 
the United States at his sole discretion ; no cause need 
be assigned; he need only judge them dangerous to the 
peace and safety of the United States. If the person thus 
notified to depart within a certain time did not obey the 
order, he was subject to imprisonment for three years 
and could never after be admitted to citizenship. But 
even though imprisoned, he could be forcibly sent out of 
the country, if the President deemed it for the public 
safety; and if he then ventured to return, he could be im- 
prisoned as long as the President saw fit to detain him. 
This act has no parallel in American legislation, for it 
made the President an autocrat and interfered with the 
sacred right of trial by jury, guaranteed by the Constitu- 
tion. Both this act and the Naturalization Act struck a 
blow at immigration which, at that time, was so necessary 
for the building up of the nation. The Sedition Act was 
equally obnoxious. It made it a high misdemeanor, pun- 
ished by a fine of five thousand dollars and five years' 
imprisonment, for persons to " unlawfully combine and 
conspire to oppose any measure of the Government, or 



178 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN ADAMS [1798 

to impede the operation of any law of the United States, 
or to intimidate persons from taking or holding federal 
office, or to commit, advise, or attempt to procure any 
insurrection, riot, or unlawful assembly." It also de- 
clared that the " writing, printing or publishing of any 
false, scandalous and malicious writings against the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, or either House of Con- 
gress, or the President, with intent to defame, or bring 
any of them into contempt or disrepute, or to excite 
against any of them the hatred of the good people of 
the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United 
States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein 
for opposing or resisting any law, or lawful executive act, 
should be punished, on conviction before the United 
States Court having jurisdiction, by a fine not exceed- 
ing two thousand dollars and imprisonment not exceed- 
ing two years." This act certainly infringed the liberty 
of speech and of the press, guaranteed by the first amend- 
ment to the Constitution. These obnoxious laws were all 
passed by Congress, during the session of 1798, and the 
bills were signed by the President, although to his credit, 
he had nothing to do with originating them. From the 
day when these un-American laws were forced upon the 
country by the Federalists in power, that party went 
steadily down to ruin. The people were shocked and 
alarmed. The President never enforced the Alien Law, 
and but six cases were ever tried under the Sedition Act. 
In one of these, Mathew Lyon of Vermont was sentenced 
to imprisonment for four months, and to pay a fine of 
$1,000. His State promptly reelected him to Congress, 
and many years after, in 1840, Congress, by a resolution, 
refunded to his heirs the amount of the fine with interest. 
It will naturally be asked : " Why did a great party, the 
representatives of a free people, pass laws, on their face 



t79S] NULLIFICATION RESOLVES 179 

unconstitutional and so opposed to the spirit of American 
institutions ? " The Federahst party had never been truly 
democratic. Hamilton, its greatest leader, distrusted the 
masses ; he never had faith in the people, and the majority 
of his party had the same aristocratic tendencies. They 
w^ere the conservatives, and represented the well-born, the 
wealthy and the commercial and professional classes. 
They viewed with horror the Reign of Terror and the 
Paris mobs, drunk with blood, shouting for " Liberty, 
Equality and the Republic," and they were alarmed lest 
the avowed sympathy for France, expressed by the Re- 
publican party, which flaunted the tri-colored cockade so 
insolently, might lead to similar excesses in their own 
land. They had not then learned that the good sound 
sense of the American people flows strong and steady 
below all the tumult on the surface. Besides these 
groundless fears, they undoubtedly desired to take re- 
venge upon the press, which heaped unstinted abuse 
upon their men and measures, and they were not averse 
to lessening the ranks of the Republican party to which 
foreign citizens naturally gravitated. 

The opposition aroused by the Alien and Sedition Laws 
led the Legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia to pass 
resolutions in favor of nullification, which were written 
by Jefferson and Madison respectively; strange to see, 
under the stress of party passion, the " Father of the Con- 
stitution " attempting to break down its authority. These 
resolves declared that when the general Government as- 
sumed authority not delegated to it by the Constitution, 
its acts were null and void, and the States were in duty 
bound to maintain their own proper rights and liberties 
in opposition. Virginia and Kentucky sent their resolu- 
tions to other State Legislatures, but they met with a 
cold reception, and Rhode Island stoutly asserted that 



i8o PRESIDENCY OF JOHN ADAMS [1798 

the United States Supreme Court had, under the Con- 
stitution, the sole right of deciding on the constitutional- 
ity of any act or law of the Congress of the United States. 
It was an eminently proper reply, and furthermore the 
States must submit to the laws of Congress, declared con- 
stitutional by the Supreme Court, or else rise in rebellion 
and overthrow the Government they have created. 

Congress had promptly responded to the President's 
appeal to prepare for defense and to strengthen the navy. 
This department was now (1798) separated from the 
army and became a distinct branch of the Government. 
To increase the navy was a favorite plan with President 
Adams. The heavy expenditures entailed by these prep- 
arations demanded an increase of revenue, and it became 
necessary to pass a Stamp Act, and later, to place a direct 
tax ; slaves and real estate being selected. It was claimed 
that a direct tax was unconstitutional and it was, natu- 
rally, very unpopular. In 1799, the resistance in Penn- 
sylvania led to what is known as " Fries' Rebellion." The 
rioting was suppressed, and the ringleader, John Fries, 
was tried for treason and sentenced to be hung. As the 
President did not think his offence was treason, as stated 
by the Constitution, he pardoned him. 

Congress had authorized the increase of the army to 
thirteen thousand men, and the popular voice demanded 
that Washington be given the command. The President 
made the appointment, and it was accepted, with the re- 
quest that Hamilton, Charles C. Pinckney and Knox be 
made his assistant generals. Then arose the question 
whether Hamilton or Knox should be given the command 
next in rank to the Commander-in-Chief, and a bitter 
quarrel ensued. Hamilton and the Cabinet, who were 
devoted to him instead of to the President, intrigued for 
the position. Adams disliked to confer the honor upon 



1799] DIFFERENCES WITH FRANCE ADJUSTED i8i 

Hamilton; he was a proud man, jealous of his preroga- 
tives, but he felt obliged to comply with a request from 
Washington that Hamilton be appointed the second in 
conmiand. During this contention, the slumbering feud 
between Adams and Hamilton was fanned into a flame. 
While the Federalists were pushing through war meas- 
ures in Congress, and the party was posing before the 
country as the defenders of an insulted nation, the Pres- 
ident, on February i8, 1799, sent to the Senate the name 
of William Vans Murray, as Minister to France. This 
created a tremendous sensation. The President had 
taken no one into his confidence, and his astonished 
party were indignant and angry. Adams had received 
word from Murray, who was United States Minister at 
the Hague, that the French Government had intimated 
to him that a representative sent by his Government 
would be received with befitting honors. The President 
acted rightly and courageously in accepting the olive 
branch offered him ; his mistake was in springing it as a 
surprise upon his Cabinet and the party leaders. It 
proved to be another fatal step in the downward path 
the Federalists were treading. The people were indig- 
nant at heavy taxes that now, in the dissolving war scare, 
appeared unnecessary, while the Federalist party, brought 
to halt by a renewal of diplomatic relations with France, 
was left without a rallying cry ; an occasion of which that 
astute politician, Thomas Jefferson, did not neglect to 
take advantage. The Senate refused to confirm Mur- 
ray, but appointed three Commissioners as envoys to 
France. They were Chief-Justice Ellsworth, Governor 
Davie (of North Carolina) and Vans Murray. They met 
in Paris and presented their credentials March 2, 1800. 
A new treaty was the result of the negotiations that fol- 
lowed. This provided for the better security of Amer- 



i82 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN ADAMS [1800 

ican commerce and that all Government and individual 
debts should be paid. The Senate, unwilling to support 
the President's foreign policy, struck out the first clause, 
which declared that " the binding force of the old treaties 
and the mutual claims for indemnities were reserved for 
future negotiations," and substituted an article limiting 
the treaty to eight years. When the amended treaty was 
submitted to Napoleon, he cleverly added a proviso, that 
cancelling the article relating to indemnities should be 
considered as a relinquishment of all such claims. In 
this form it was finally ratified. This was the origin 
of the French Spoliation Claims, which have, at intervals, 
been brought forward to vex the Government until the 
present day. 

In the last month of 1799, faction was hushed to silence 
by the melancholy news of the death of Washington. 
Throughout the country mourning was universal ; all 
united to honor the memory of one who was more 
truly the " Father of his Country " than any other man 
known to history, ancient or modern. 

1800 was the year of the Presidential election, which 
was a bitter and tempestuous campaign. The Federalists 
were divided into two factions, led by Hamilton and 
Adams, while the Republicans were united under the 
lead of Jefferson. Every device known to the clever 
politician was resorted to by Hamilton to prevent Adams' 
reelection. The intense feud between the leaders an- 
imated their followers, and when the campaign began in 
earnest, pamphlets and the press teemed with partisan 
abuse of the candidates and their policy; although the 
country always had the chance of salvation by voting 
as the writer advised. The members of the Cabinet 
who, in their devotion to Hamilton, had quite forgotten 
their allegiance to their chief, were at last dismissed by 



i8oo] ELECTION PASSES TO THE HOUSE 183 

the President who had become convinced of their dis- 
loyalty to him. These quarrels among the leaders worked 
untold mischief in the ranks. 

Hamilton was out of the Presidential race himself — 
the contest lying between Adams and C. C. Pinckney 
as Federalist, and Jefferson and Burr as Republican 
candidates — but he concentrated all his powers to com- 
pass the defeat of Adams. He made a bitter attack upon 
the President, in a pamphlet issued on the eve of the 
election. To insult and attempt to hold up to public 
scorn one of the candidates of his own party at such a 
time was extraordinary ; it was the work of a man blinded 
by political passion. 

Congress was now established in the partly built Cap- 
itol in the new city of Washington; and there, on Feb- 
ruary II, 1801, the votes were counted. As had been 
foreseen, the Federalists were defeated. Jefferson and 
Aaron Burr each had seventy-three votes, Adams sixty- 
five, and Charles C. Pinckney sixty-four. Under the 
methods then employed, the two candidates having the 
highest number of votes were declared President and 
Vice-President. In this case, there being a tie, the elec- 
tion passed to the House of Representatives, as directed 
by the Constitution. There each State was permitted 
one vote, and, as there were sixteen States, nine votes 
were necessary for a choice. In this emergency. Burr's 
powers for intrigue had full play. Believing that the 
Federalists would rather have him for President than 
Jefferson, he determined to make every effort to obtain 
the office regardless of the wishes of the Republicans. 
His conduct was unscrupulous, but such was the Fed- 
eralist hatred of Jefferson that many voted for Burr. 
The days dragged by and still the decision hung in the 
balance, until, becoming alarmed at the near approach 



i84 PRESIDENCY OP JOHN ADAMS [1801 

of March 4th, and realizing the danger to the nation if 
that day were to arrive and there was no successor to 
the outgoing President, the FederaHsts decided to ter- 
minate the confHct. On the thirty-sixth ballot they 
either cast blanks or withdrew, and Jefferson was chosen 
President by the votes of ten States and Burr became 
Vice-President. 

It has been said that " Mr. Adams served his country 
better than he served his party." We are inclined to 
think this high praise, but to the Federalists of his day 
he was a man to be hated and reviled. The partisans 
of Adams and Hamilton have waged a bitter war ever 
since as to which man had the greater responsibility for 
that party's extinction ; for the power of Federalism 
expired with Adams' administration. This patriot of 
the Revolution, who had always been a brave, loyal, up- 
right man, putting his country before all else, left the 
Presidency disappointed and humiliated. He wrote to 
Rufus King : *' Can there be any deeper damnation in 
this Universe than to be condemned to a long life, in 
danger, toil and anxiety ; and to be rewarded only with 
abuse, insult and slander?" For much of this Adams 
had himself to l)lame. Like many very honest people, 
he was totally lacking in tact, and he had an irascible 
temper and a self-esteem that were not always agree- 
able to others. Had he called to his aid a Cabinet strong 
and loyal, refused to sign the Alien and Sedition Bills, 
and managed with more discretion the renewal of dip- 
lomatic relations with France, he might have won a 
second term, and his party? — well, for a little longer 
Federalism might have been an influence, but for a 
brief period only, since it was out of sympathy with the 
strong democratic spirit of the new nation. It was a 
party of great men and of great measures, and it has 



i8oi] JOHN MARSHALL 185 

the undying honor of having estabHshed, with a rare 
wisdom that assured success, that experiment in govern- 
ment — the American Repubhc. 

One of President Adams' last acts was to confer a 
lasting benefit upon the country by the appointment of 
John Marshall as Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court. 
For thirty-four years Marshall, by a series of masterly 
judicial decisions, was to firmly establish the Constitu- 
tion and American nationality on an impregnable basis. 
John Fiske says: "The names of five great men stand 
before all others in the making of the Government under 
which we now live : George Washington, for his ser- 
vices in winning the independence of the United States, 
and the weight of wisdom with which he set the new 
Government in operation; James Madison, for taking 
the principal part in the framing of the Constitution; 
Alexander Hamilton, for persuading the people to adopt 
the Constitution, and for his bold measures, which gave 
shape and strength to the Federalist party; Thomes 
Jefferson, for illustrating the true principles of democ- 
racy, and for the sagacity with which he conducted the 
first great change of party supremacy, in 1801 ; John 
Marshall, for his work as Chief-Justice of the United 
States from 1801 to 1835, in interpreting the Constitu- 
tion and increasing its elasticity and strength by his 
profound judicial decisions." 

This great jurist was a Virginian of good family, who 
had served his country in the Revolution and had taken an 
active and honorable part in public life. He early gained 
eminence at the bar, and when only twenty-five years old, 
was a member of the Legislature in a State that had no 
lack of distinguished men. The peculiar bent of his mind 
fitted the times. American jurisprudence was as yet 
unborn, and new questions of the application of English 



i86 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN ADAMS [1801 

law to changed conditions were constantly arising. To 
create was a form of professional work that came nat- 
urally to Marshall, for he had, to a great degree, the 
constructive faculty. It is said of him : " His placid and 
genial disposition, his singular modesty, his generous 
heart, his kindly and unpretentious manners, the scru- 
pulous respect he showed for the feelings and opinions 
of all men, his freedom from pride and affectation, . . . 
his candor, moderation and integrity, formed such a 
character that it might be said of him, as of Nathaniel 
of old : ' Behold an IsraeHte, indeed, in whom is no 
guile.' " 



CHAPTER XI 

PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 

Thomas Jefferson was another distinguished son of 
the Old Dominion. He was of a good family, inherited 
a comfortable property, and received the best education 
obtainable in America for a young man of position in 
his day. He was fond of the classics, mathematics and 
the natural sciences, and this bent of mind accounts for 
his advanced views upon religion, which, quite out of 
keeping with the narrow and rigid creeds then prevalent, 
gained him the reputation of a free-thinker and atheist, 
and later afforded a constant theme for the hostile 
attacks of his political opponents, especially the clergy 
and Puritan element of New England. A rising lawyer, 
he married at twenty-nine a young widow, to whom 
he was most devotedly attached. There were ten years 
of happy married life, and then Mrs. Jefferson died, 
and her husband never re-married. During these years, 
Jefferson had taken an active part in public life; a 
•member of Congress he wrote the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and he had been Governor of his own State. 
After his wife's death, he returned to Congress, and it 
was owing to his efforts that the ordinance of 1787 was 
passed, by which slavery was forever prohibited north 
of the Ohio River. He succeeded Franklin as Minister 
to France, returning to America shortly after Washing- 
ton's inauguration, to take his place in the Cabinet as 

187 



i88 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1801 

Secretary of State. These years in France had a marked 
effect upon Jefferson's character. He watched with 
sympathy the growing spirit of hberty in that country, 
and became the friend and counsellor of Lafayette and 
his party. The extravagant enthusiasm everywhere dis- 
played met a ready response from his speculative mind 
and sincere love of freedom. On his return to his native 
land, he expected to see the same ardent love of liberty 
and equality manifested on every side. His disappoint- 
ment was intense. The Federalists were in power, a 
party in his eyes having dangerously aristocratic ten- 
dencies, and there appeared an amount of ceremony in 
social life that seemed quite incompatible with Repub- 
lican ideas. Fresh from the extravagances of French 
enthusiasm, he misjudged the patriotism of the men 
about him. Under his leadership arose the Republican 
party, and for the principles it represented he enter- 
tained a profound belief. He was a man who disliked 
ceremonies, who felt a benevolence for all mankind, and 
who would like to have seen no wealthy and favored 
class, but all his countrymen alike prosperous and happy, 
and government reduced to a minimum. If these ideas 
were Utopian, they were at least sincerely held and did 
credit to the man's heart. It is one of the strange facts 
of Jefferson's complex character that he, an astute polit- 
ical leader, a man of wide information, who had seen 
much of the world, should have so often lapsed into the 
mere visionary. 

In the city of Washington on March 4, 1801, shortly 
before noon, a plainly dressed man, escorted by a local 
company of militia artillery, and accompanied by sev- 
eral gentlemen, walked quietly from a near-by boarding- 
house to the capitol and entered the building. In this 
truly democratic manner Thomas Jefferson proceeded 



i8oi] JEFFERSON'S MODERATION 189 

to his inauguration as President of the United States. 
The incident is characteristic as initiating the new era 
of Jeffersonian simpHcity. It was the first inaugura- 
tion at the permanent Capital of the nation. At this 
time Washington was, in truth, Httle more than a " City 
of Magnificent Distances," with half-finished public 
buildings, scattered dwellings and miserable roadways. 
The new administration was destined to enjoy four years 
of a tranquillity in striking contrast to the tumult that 
had preceded it. Foreign relations were amicable, Eng- 
land and France taking a brief respite from hostilities 
and, for the present, respecting the existing treaties. At 
home the Republican party was led by the President, a 
consummate politician, whose amiable and agreeable man- 
ner won friends and subdued enemies; but the reins of 
power were not weakly held; it was the hand of steel 
in the velvet glove. 

On assuming office, Jefferson refused to acknowl- 
edge what were known as " the midnight appointments " ; 
these were the appointments of Federalists to office, 
which John Adams had signed up to midnight on the 
last night of his administration, and he made, for par- 
tisan reasons, but twenty-six removals in all during the 
first two years that he held office. As all places were 
filled by Federalists, he certainly acted with moderation, 
and he declared that when the Republicans had come to 
have a fair share of the offices, he should be rejoiced 
to have the only questions concerning a candidate : " Is 
he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Con- 
stitution ? " The. policy of the new administration was 
for retrenchment and frugality. Many offices under the 
Government were abandoned, and the missions to Hol- 
land, Portugal and Prussia were closed as needless 
establishments. Congress passed the Judiciary Bill, 



igo PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1802 

which repealed the act estabHshing additional Circuit 
Courts, and the army and navy were reduced to what 
was barely necessary. This rigid economy rendered pos- 
sible a very popular measure — the suppression of all 
internal taxes. Thus were abolished the hated excise 
and the direct tax. Jefferson was not a financier, but 
he had placed a most capable man at the head of the 
Treasury Department. This was Albert Gallatin, a Swiss 
by birth, who for thirteen years managed with skill and 
prudence the financial affairs of the Government. The 
other Cabinet members were: James Madison, Secretary 
of State; Robert Smith of Maryland, Secretary of the 
Navy ; General Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War ; and 
Levi Lincoln, Attorney-General. Jefferson wrote, after 
leaving office : " The third administration, which was of 
eight years, presented an example of harmony, in a 
Cabinet of six persons, to which perhaps history has 
furnished no parallel. There never arose, during the 
whole time, an instance of an unpleasant thought or 
word between the members." 

During Jefferson's first term, Ohio was admitted as 
a State (1802), the Military Academy at West Point 
was established (December 12, 1803), and the twelfth 
amendment to the Constitution was adopted;^ this pro- 
vided that the Presidential electors should designate on 
distinct ballots the President and the Vice-President, and 
made other changes in the conduct of the voting, all of 
which regulations are in force at the present day. 

The Naturalization Act, passed in Adams' administra- 
tion, was repealed, and the previous term of five years' 
residence necessary to qualify the foreign-born for cit- 
izenship, was restored. The Alien and Sedition Acts 
had already expired by limitation. In order to prevent 

1 Ratified by the States and became the law September 25, 1804. 



i8o3] PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 191 

the speculations of large land companies, the wise plan 
was adopted of selling the public lands in quarter sec- 
tions, that is, in a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. 
The country, under the new rule of peace and economy, 
grew prosperous, and the Republicans saw the Fed- 
eralists, day by day, join their ranks ; finally, both 
Houses of Congress became overwhelmingly Republican 
or Democratic-Republican, as they began to call them- 
selves. They were ultimately to drop the Republican 
altogether and become simply the Democratic party. 

These four years, so agreeable to contemplate, were 
marked by an event of far-reaching importance — the 
purchase of Louisiana. In 1800, by a secret treaty, Spain 
ceded Louisiana to France. Two years later, the Spanish 
Intendant at New Orleans announced the cession to the 
people and proclaimed the port of that city closed to all 
vessels except those of Spain. This was in direct op- 
position to the treaty between the United States and 
Spain, and on a protest from the United States Govern- 
ment the order was rescinded. But the Americans fully 
recognized the menace to the future prosperity of the 
western country, if an aggressive foreign power were to 
retain control of the river and become an unwelcome 
neighbor on their western border. Robert R. Living- 
ston had been sent as Minister to France, and later James 
Monroe was appointed his associate, with directions to 
obtain a settlement of the question, and the matter was 
decided, but in a manner quite unforeseen. On April 30, 
1803, a treaty was signed at Paris, by which France 
ceded the vast territory of Louisiana to the United States 
for the sum of 60,000,000 francs and the relinquishment 
of debts due the United States, amounting to 15,000,000 
francs; in all, a sum about equivalent to $15,000,000. 
This great tract, of about i ,000,000 square miles, included 



192 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1803 

the present State of Louisiana, and extended north to 
British America. Its eastern boundary was the Mis- 
sissippi River, and the western boundary followed a line 
running on the north of what is now Texas to the in- 
terior of the present Colorado; thence passing west of 
the Rocky Mountains northward to British America. 
Napoleon's reasons for thus parting with an empire can 
only be conjectured. Undoubtedly, he needed money to 
further his schemes of conquest in Europe, and he must 
have realized the difficulty of retaining the country 
should it be invaded by the United States, or his enemy, 
England. Furthermore, at that time, the " Man of Des- 
tiny " saw his star rising over Egypt and the East rather 
than over the wilds of America. The President sum- 
moned Congress, and the Senate promptly ratified the 
treaty on October 17, 1803. The Federalists were now 
only a small faction, but they did not fail to seize the 
occasion and at once raised the cry that the Louisiana 
purchase was unconstitutional. The Republican party had 
bitterly opposed the doctrine of the " implied powers " 
and had proclaimed, at all times, their belief in a strict 
construction of the Constitution ; that Jef fersonian doc- 
trine was now dealt a fatal blow. In adding this vast 
domain, out of which to carve future States far in excess 
of the original thirteen, they had gone further than the 
most daring Federalist had ever ventured. 

The question of constitutionality, that is, of the su- 
preme power of the Government under the Constitution, 
has been re-affirmed by subsequent acquisitions of ter- 
ritory ; but Jefferson, as an advocate of the doctrine of 
state rights, felt that, in signing the treaty, he had, to 
use his own words, " done an act beyond the Constitu- 
tion," and he relied for justification simply upon the 
wisdom of the act and the wish of the nation. His ad- 



i8o5] WAR WITH THE BARBARY STATES 193 

vice bespeaks the clever politician. He wrote to Madi- 
son : " The less that is said about any Constitutional dif- 
ficulty, the better. . . It will be best for Congress to do 
what is necessary in silence." Congress acted on this 
advice, and both Houses passed, by large majorities, a 
bill to provide for the execution of the treaty. A gov- 
ernment was at once organized for this new possession. 
The present State of Louisiana was made a territory 
named " Orleans," and the remainder of the country 
was called the " District of Louisiana," with St. Louis 
as its principal settlement. 

At this time the United States, as well as the nations 
of Europe, paid tribute to the Barbary States to secure 
immunity from attack by those pirates, who preyed upon 
the commerce of the Mediterranean. When Captain Bain- 
bridge, in 1800, carried the stipulated sum of money to 
Algiers, the Dey compelled him to convey despatches to 
the Sultan of Turkey. Other insolent demands followed, 
to which the United States Government made a fitting 
response. The navy was increased, several of the enemy's 
cruisers were destroyed and Tripoli bombarded. As a 
result of this vigorous course a treaty was framed, in 
1805, by which American rights were fully recognized. 
The new nation having shown Europe the wisest way to 
deal with pirates, she profited by the example and ceased 
to pay blackmail. 

A sad page of political history relates to the tragedy 
with which Aaron Burr was so intimately connected. 
Aaron Burr's father was a clergyman of the best Puritan 
stock. President of Princeton College and a man honored 
and beloved by all. His mother was a noble, Christian 
woman, a daughter of that great theologian, the Rev. 
Jonathan Edwards. It is most singular that Aaron Burr, 
the shifty politician, the crafty leader of men, the brilliant 



194 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1805 

and polished man of the world, whose private life was 
notoriously immoral, should have been the offspring of 
this devout and upright ancestry. In his case heredity 
seems to have received a queer twist. Burr's parents and 
grandparents dying within the space of thirteen months, 
the young child was left to the care of his uncle, the Hon- 
orable Timothy Edwards, who brought him up as his own 
son, after the manner of that time, not sparing the rod, 
but always prefacing the castigation by a long prayer for 
the offender's reformation. Burr, when sixteen years of 
age, graduated from Princeton College. After a time he 
began the study of law, but fired by enthusiasm for the 
patriot cause, threw aside his books, entered the army and 
joined Arnold's expedition to Quebec. During that ter- 
rible march through the wilderness he bore himself 
bravely, displaying always the imperturbable coolness 
that distinguished him throughout his checkered career. 
His military record deserves the praise due a brave 
soldier ; at twenty-one he was made Lieutenant-Colonel ; 
but after four years of service ill-health compelled him to 
resign. He resumed his law studies and on beginning 
practice was at once successful. Colonel Burr, handsome, 
fascinating, well-born and famous, now astonished society 
by marrying a widow ten years older than himself, the 
mother of two boys and having but a small property and 
no claim to beauty. But she was the fortunate possessor 
of a well-cultivated mind and a graceful and winning 
manner. Burr was deeply attached to her and their twelve 
years of married life were most happily passed at Rich- 
mond Hill. This handsome country house, famous for 
its refined hospitality, stood in New York city where 
Charlton and Varick Streets now meet, its ample lawns 
extending to the Hudson River. Mrs. Burr's death 
left to her husband's care their daughter Thcodosia, 



i8o4] AARON BURR 195 

whom Burr loved with passionate devotion his Hfe long, 
though he often grieved that faithful heart, which ever 
loved and forgave him. In 1791 he was elected by the 
Legislature of New York to the United States Senate 
and from that time became prominent in political life. 
His unscrupulousness in attempting to obtain the Presi- 
dency, when Jefferson was undoubtedly the choice of his 
party, angered the Republicans, and when they nominated 
Jefferson for reelection they dropped Burr and nominated 
George Clinton in his place. Indignant at being turned 
down by his party, Burr determined to become Gov- 
ernor of New York. He had a following in that State 
and came forward as a candidate, hoping, by dividing his 
party and bidding for Federalist votes, to carry the elec- 
tion against the regular Republican candidate Chief- 
Justice Lewis, a man greatly honored by men of all par- 
ties. Many Federalists were disposed to vote for Burr, 
but Hamilton's influence prevented the party from for- 
mally accepting him. After a bitter campaign Lewis was 
elected by a large majority. Burr, bankrupt in purse and 
prospects, was now desperate. To Hamilton he ascribed 
his defeat, and determining to take revenge upon one, 
who was his rival at the bar and his political enemy, he 
wrote to him demanding a disavowal of certain offensive 
remarks Hamilton was reported to have made concerning 
him, or else, the satisfaction usual among gentlemen. 
Alas ! for the moral code of the day. Hamilton accepted 
the challenge and the duel took place in the early morning 
of a July day at Weehawken. Hamilton is said to have 
fired in the air; Burr took deliberate aim, and his 
victim fell mortally wounded. He died on the after- 
noon of the following day, July 12, 1804. When his 
death was announced to the excited city, flags were 
placed at half-mast and universal gloom prevailed. 



196 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1804 

On the day of the funeral every church bell was muffled 
and tolled for an hour during the morning and the same 
at evening. As the long procession passed through the 
streets to Trinity Church, minute guns were fired from 
the Battery and from English and French frigates in the 
harbor. All the while Burr was in hiding at Richmond 
Hill. Ten days later the coroner's jury found him guilty 
of murder, issued a warrant for his arrest, and he hastily 
left the State. 

Hamilton was a man greatly beloved by a host of 
friends. He had his faults, without doubt, but they were 
never those of littleness or meanness, but of a powerful 
and passionate nature when it had broken down all bar- 
riers of control. Schouler says of him : " This Caesar of 
a commonplace world, which yielded, unfortunately for 
the scope of his powers, more to laws than individuals; 
this financier, whose feats with the public credit had 
astonished two continents ; this imperial soul, which had 
dwelt in near companionship to Washington ; this states- 
man, who at thirty-five despised the subtle Jefferson, a 
man nearly fifty ; who sought to bend that venerable oak, 
John Adams ; who never doubted his own position among 
the wealthiest, the oldest in family influence, in a coun- 
try upon which he had been cast a waif; this wonderful 
American reached the zenith of his public influence when 
about thirty and died at forty-seven." 

In the Presidential election of 1804 Jefferson was re- 
elected by a large majority, receiving 162 electoral votes, 
while Charles C. Pinckney, the Federalist candidate, had 
but fourteen. The Republican party everywhere tri- 
umphed, even Massachusetts casting her vote for Jeffer- 
son. The only States to cast any Federalist ballots what- 
ever were Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland. The 
President, naturally, was greatly pleased with the result 



i8o7] ENGLAND AND FRANCE AT ODDS 197 

and wrote to a friend : " The two parties which once con- 
tended with such violence have almost melted into one." 
One cause of this union was a change of sentiment in the 
Republicans ; they had approached the Federalist position 
and no longer hesitated to give a broad construction to the 
Constitution and to strengthen the powers of the general 
Government. Day by day the State was falling into its 
proper place and the Government becoming more national. 
But already a cloud was rising to dim the brightness of 
the prospect, and the next four years were full of disaster. 
As before, the conflict between England and France was 
to react upon the United States. It is only necessary to 
give a general consideration to the acts, direct and retalia- 
tory, by which each of these two great nations in attempt- 
ing to cripple the power of the other, seriously endan- 
gered the welfare of the American Republic. In August, 
1804, England, by Orders in Council, declared all ports 
from Ostend to the Seine in a state of rigorous blockade. 
In May, 1806, the United States Government was noti- 
fied that the coast of France, with all rivers and ports, 
was blockaded from the River Elbe to Brest. To these 
British measures Napoleon retaliated by the Berlin de- 
cree, which declared the British Islands in a state of 
blockade and all commerce and correspondence with them 
prohibited. This was answered by further Orders in 
Council, during the autumn of 1807, by which all ports 
and places belonging to France and her allies, from which 
the British flag was excluded and all colonies of His 
Britannic Majesty's enemies were declared in a state of 
blockade. All trade in the produce and manufactures of 
those countries and colonies was prohibited, and all ves- 
sels trading to or from them and all merchandise on board 
were made subject to capture and condemnation. To 
this France replied with the Milan decree (December, 



198 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1807 

1807), which declared every ship, whatever its nationahty 
and whatever its cargo, saihng from the ports of England, 
or of her colonies, or of countries occupied by British 
troops, and proceeding to England, or to her colonies, or 
to countries occupied by the English, to be good prize; 
and every ship, of whatever nation, which had submitted 
to search by an English ship, or made a voyage to Eng- 
land, or had paid any tax to that Government, was de- 
clared denationalized and lawful prize. In April, 1808, 
Napoleon issued the decree of Bayonne, which directed 
that all American vessels entering the ports of France, 
Italy, or the Hanse Towns, should be seized and con- 
demned. Mr. Walker remarks : " It has by some been 
alleged that the French people, while exceedingly witty, 
are destitute of humor ; and certainly the Berlin and Milan 
decrees afford a striking corroboration of this view... 
The declaration by France of blockade, not only of the 
British Islands, but of British colonies and of all coun- 
tries occupied by British troops, exceeds anything seen 
upon the stage in opera bouffe." 

But these decrees afforded no amusement to the United 
States, who saw her ships seized, their cargoes confis- 
cated, her commerce ruined and trade stagnant. In fact 
little was left to America but her own coasting trade, for 
one-half the mercantile world was closed to her by the 
British and the other half by the French. Britain was 
mistress of the sea, but her commerce was injuriously 
affected by the war, while that of the United States was 
advancing rapidly. It was a clever political move to shut 
up her rival within her own gates. In this emergency, 
Congress determined to increase the navy, and the Presi- 
dent exerted his influence to have additional gunboats 
built. Several of these had already been constructed 
under Jefferson's direction, and as he knew nothing of 



i8o6] IMPRESSMENT 199 

naval architecture they were curious craft, having one or 
two masts, mounting one gun and designated by nu- 
merals. The President was convinced that they were an 
adequate sea-coast defense, but needless to say, they ex- 
cited great derision, especially among the Yankee seamen. 
Shortly after the first one was finished and floated in 
Charleston Harbor, a terrible cyclone visited the coast; 
the waters rose and washed inland. When the floods 
subsided. Gunboat No. i was left high and dry in a corn- 
field, eight miles from her moorings. That was suffi- 
cient to set all the wit of the nation in brilliant play. 
Here is a toast that was proposed at a public dinner in 
Boston: " Gunboat No. i. If our gunboats are of no use 
upon the water, may they at least be the best upon earth." 

In addition to these boats, dubbed " the mosquito fleet," 
the navy consisted of two frigates fit for service, six 
others out of repair and ten smaller craft, among these 
being two new sloops. A poor showing for a nation des- 
tined within seven years to engage in war with the great- 
est naval power in the world. 

The President desired, as had his predecessors in office, 
to maintain a strict neutrality. He had not been a suc- 
cessful war Governor of Virginia during the Revolution, 
and he was now to repeat that failure, for, preeminently 
a man of peace, he was ill-fitted for the task before him. 
In January, 1806, he sent to Congress a special message 
treating of impressment and the infringement of neutral- 
ity. Impressment was arousing great bitterness of feel- 
ing throughout the seaboard states. In violation of the 
rights of neutrals English frigates stopped and overhauled 
American merchantmen, summoned the passengers and 
sailors on deck and forcibly carried off all whom it suited 
her convenience to claim as British subjects. English 
frigates cruised in the neighborhood of American harbors 



200 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1806 

for the express purpose of obtaining men to supply the 
loss of her own seamen. Six thousand American citizens 
were impressed before the war of 181 2 put a stop to 
British aggressions. 

The Jay treaty having expired by limitation, James 
Monroe, Minister at London, and William Pinckney, a 
special envoy from the United States, after six months 
of negotiation, signed a new treaty December 31, 1806. 
England refused to renounce her claim to right of search 
and impressment, and on the whole, the treaty was so 
disadvantageous that Jefferson never submitted it to the 
Senate. This rejection of a treaty without the aid of the 
Upper House was accounted by many unconstitutional 

Notwithstanding the irritation produced by England's 
aggressive course, various measures were adopted in hope 
of a peaceable settlement, but the only result was to post- 
pone the conflict until the next administration. In June, 
1807, the American frigate " Chesapeake," putting out to 
sea from Hampton Roads, was fired upon by the British 
frigate " Leopard " and obliged to surrender three seamen 
— alleged deserters from the British navy. The news that 
a vessel of the American navy had, under a raking fire, 
been obliged to lower its flag and submit to the demands 
of an English captain, aroused the nation to fury. " This 
country," wrote Jefferson, " has never been in such a 
state of excitement since the battle of Lexington." The 
President issued a proclamation, ordering all British men- 
of-war out of American waters. Word was sent to the 
states to have their militia in readiness, and the naval 
force was so disposed as to best protect the ports. But 
the mosquito fleet was of little use, and British frigates 
sailed in and out of American harbors as suited their con- 
venience. 

Mr. Morse says : '' The English policy was simple ; since 



i8o7] THE EMBARGO 201 

the Americans would not fight, they were the easier ob- 
jects of plunder. The French principle was responsive ; 
since the Americans are to be robbed, we must share the 
booty." Truly, a humiliating position for the Americans, 
but one fails to see how the United States, with her 
" mosquito fleet," could have fought both great nations 
at once. 

To offset the various decrees and Orders in Council, 
the President laid before Congress a plan for placing an 
embargo. Such was Jefferson's influence that an Em- 
bargo Act was passed, after four days' debate, Decem- 
ber 22, 1807. This act was unlimited as to time; by 
it all vessels were prohibited from leaving American ports 
except foreign armed vessels and foreign merchantmen, 
with cargoes aboard, when notified of the order. Coast- 
ing vessels were required to give bonds to land their car- 
goes at some port of the United States. This act was 
at first hailed with enthusiasm, even John Quincy Adams, 
son of the late President, throwing Federalism aside and 
voting with the Republicans. By this measure the Gov- 
ernment meant to protect its ships and men from cap- 
ture, and by cutting off all trade, compel the enemy to 
repeal commercial restrictions. The speculative philos- 
opher in the President's chair apparently forgot that the 
advantages of commerce are reciprocal. It was soon evi- 
dent that in injuring her foes America was doing serious 
harm to herself. In all the seaports trade was at a stand- 
still, men were idle, supplies of all kinds accumulated in 
the warehouses, and by spring the distress was great. 
This led to evasion of the law. Smuggling on the lakes 
and Canadian border became common, and vessels had a 
strange fancy for taking in Halifax or a West Indian 
Island on a coasting trip. More stringent laws were 
passed, and the people were aroused to deeper resent- 



202 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1809 

ment. Memorials for repeal of the embargo poured in 
upon Congress, and meetings to denounce the act were 
held throughout the North. But Congress stood by the 
executive, and for the better enforcement of the act, on 
January 6, 1809, after a stormy debate that lasted all 
night until six o'clock in the morning, passed an Enforc- 
ing Act, which conferred despotic power upon the Presi- 
dent when dealing with foreign and domestic commerce. 
Since the Alien and Sedition Bills, no act so objection- 
able had been passed by Congress, for it not only in- 
fringed the right to security from search and seizure, 
guaranteed by an amendment to the Constitution, but 
freely employed the army and navy in its service. The 
commercial States were in a blaze ; New England threat- 
ened to withdraw from the Union. Jefferson had now to 
take his own dose of nullification, and it was not an agree- 
able draught. One writer remarks : " Mr. Jefferson was 
alarmed at the prospect, and began to be doubtful of the 
virtue of his panacea. The connection between making 
grass grow in the streets of Boston, Salem, Newport and 
New Haven, and overthrowing the British Government, 
appeared to him somewhat less plain than at the begin- 
ning." 

In February, 1809, the last month of the President's 
official term, the embargo was repealed after long and 
heated debates, and the policy of non-intercourse with 
England and France was substituted, to take effect in 
March. 

Before leaving Jefferson's administration, we must re- 
turn to Aaron Burr. This Vice-President of the United 
States, who was under indictment for murder, at the close 
of his term of office bade farewell to the Senate in an 
impressive address, and turned his steps westward. A 
tour through the country as far as New Orleans paved 



i8o7] BURR TRIED FOR TREASON 203 

the way for an ambitious scheme. His plans were never 
fully ascertained, but it is supposed that he intended to 
separate the western States from the Union and make him- 
self ruler of a new empire, which should include not only 
the western half of the United States, but Mexico as well, 
with New Orleans for the capital. Such was his charm 
of manner that he soon gathered a number of followers 
about him, chief of these being a young Englishman, Har- 
man Blennerhassett, whose beautiful home, on an island 
in the Ohio, became the headquarters of Burr. General 
Wilkinson, who was in charge of the District of Louisi- 
ana, had been informed as to Burr's plans, and becoming 
alarmed at the part he was being led to take, drew back 
and communicated with the President. Burr was on his 
way down the Mississippi, with a small force, when 
Jefferson issued a proclamation calling for his arrest. He 
fled to the wilderness, but was finally apprehended and 
sent to Richmond, where Chief-Justice Marshall was 
holding Circuit Court. After weeks of legal skirmish- 
ing. Burr's trial for treason was moved, August 3, 
1807. During this time he had been treated as a prisoner 
of distinction, receiving every attention from the friends 
surrounding him. Though under guard, he had a good 
suite of rooms, and these were usually so thronged with 
guests as to have the appearance of a levee. Through all, 
he was as agreeable and imperturbable as ever. " I hope, 
sir," said his jailor, " that it would not be disagreeable to 
yQU if I should lock this door after dark ? " " By no 
means," replied the prisoner, " I should prefer it, to keep 
out intruders." 

Treason, under the Constitution of the United States, 
consists in levying war against the United States, or in 
adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No 
person can be convicted of treason except on the testi- 



204 PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON [1808 

mony of two witnesses to the act, or on confession in 
open court. Burr had been too clever, the charge could 
not be proved, but the jury, equal to the occasion, brought 
in a verdict which declared him innocent, yet intimated 
their belief in his guilt. It was: " We, the jury, say that 
Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this indict- 
ment by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore 
find him not guilty." Burr was set free, to live through 
long and bitter years of expiation, though receiving 
proofs of personal devotion to the end of his days. 

1808 was the limit of time set by the Constitution for 
the importation of slaves, and Congress passed a law for- 
bidding the traffic after January i of that year. By this 
bill any person fitting out a vessel for the slave trade was 
fined $20,000, and for taking on board any colored per- 
son for sale within the United States the penalty was 
$5000. Any person who transported or sold any such 
person was liable to five or ten years' imprisonment and 
the payment of a sum ranging from $1000 to $10,000. 
Any purchaser cognizant of the fact could be fined $800. 
Vessels, under certain conditions, were liable to be seized 
and forfeited. This was passed in spite of acrimonious 
debate, for the anti-slavery societies had done good work 
and the President favored the measure. 

Jefferson had a very compliant Congress, but the Re- 
publican party, which had solidly supported the adminis- 
tration, broke ranks during the second term. John Ran- 
dolph, the acknowledged leader of the Republicans in the 
House, for some unknown cause, turned against his chief 
and soon became the leader of a small but troublesome 
faction, called the " Quids " ; so named because they at- 
tempted to pose as a third party and had been wittily 
called " tertium quid " — a third what ? 

" Randolph of Roanoke," as he is usually called, 



i8o9] "RANDOLPH OF ROANOKE" 205 

claimed descent from Pocahontas. He was destined to 
enliven Congress for twenty-five years by his eccentric 
manners and strangely fascinating oratory, which ex- 
celled in stinging invective, but frequently became insult- 
ing. It is said : " He was a freakish politician, true to no 
party but himself." 

Jefferson's policy of economy and Gallatin's able man- 
agement had produced most satisfactory results. During 
these eight years $33,580,000 of the public debt was paid 
and there was a handsome surplus in the Treasury. 
Jefferson having refused to be a candidate for reelection, 
the Republicans put up Madison. Both Monroe and 
Clinton desired the nomination, but Jefferson, who owned 
the party, gave Madison preference ; so Monroe bided his 
time, and George Clinton was again given the second 
place on the ticket. In the Electoral College, Madison 
received 122 votes, and Charles C. Pinckney, the Fed- 
eralist candidate, 47. George Clinton received 113 votes 
for the Vice-Presidency. 

Jefferson gladly laid aside the burden of office and re- 
tired to his home, Monticello, in Virginia, where he was 
to exercise a wide hospitality, exchange long, friendly 
letters with his former opponent, John Adams, and bear 
with becoming grace and dignity the proud title, " The 
Sage of TMonticello." 



CHAPTER XII 
PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MADISON 

James Madison of Virginia was inaugurated March 
4, 1809. He was the son of a small planter, was educated 
at Princeton, and had been prominent in public life since 
his twenty-fifth year. He has already been alluded to as 
the " Father of the Constitution " and as being one of 
the most prominent among those who labored for its 
adoption. He appears always to have been the statesman, 
even as a young man being a most grave and serious per- 
son. At forty-three, he married a beautiful young widow, 
" Dolly Madison " ; she is so called upon her tombstone. 
and it rather bespeaks the charming woman of the world 
than the Quakeress she was by birth. 

As an ardent supporter of the Constitution Madison 
was a Federalist ; but after Jefferson's return from 
France, he joined the Republican party and became the 
devoted and faithful lieutenant of its chief. He took an 
active part in the attempt to overthrow Hamilton and 
with Jefferson was accused of being connected with 
Freneau's Gazette. 

Jefferson had taken no part in framing the Constitu- 
tion, but how different with Madison, who now became 
associated with the party that contained his former an- 
tagonists — the Anti-Federalists. The explanation for 
this change probably lies in the fact that Madison was a 
man of strong democratic feeling and distrusted the aris- 
tocratic tendencies of the Federalist party. 

20$ 



i8o9] NON-INTERCOURSE ACT 207 

On taking office, Madison retained Gallatin at the head 
of the Treasury. He was the only man of first-class abil- 
ity in the new Cabinet, and having distinguished himself 
in guiding the previous administration through the tur- 
moil of the embargo and the enforcing act, was entitled 
to the position of Secretary of State. That he failed to 
obtain it was owing to the intrigues of a faction opposing 
him. It has been said : " Washington ruled superior to 
party, Adams ruled in spite of a party, Jefferson ruled as 
the head of a party. The national Government from now 
on falls gradually into the hands of Congress and Con- 
gressional cliques and leaders, in cooperation or conflict ; 
these in turn acknowledging the pressure all the while 
of a profound and pervading influence, to which they 
must account, of public opinion, whose indications are 
watched like changes of the weather." 

Madison's administration opened with fair prospects, 
for in April, 1809, there was an apparent settlement of 
the British imbroglio. David Montague Erskine, the 
British Minister at Washington, stated that his Govern- 
ment would make reparation for the " Chesapeake " affair 
and would also recall the Orders in Council on condition 
that the United States would rescind the non-intercourse 
act. The President gladly accepted these agreeable over- 
tures and hastened to proclaim the good tidings. Un- 
happily, the rejoicing was short-lived, for in July came 
the news that Erskine was recalled and his negotiations 
repudiated, the British Ministry asserting that he had 
misrepresented his instructions and exceeded his author- 
ity. The President acted promptly; by a proclamation 
(August I, 1809) he restored the non-intercourse act. 
The new British Minister, Francis James Jackson, ar- 
rived in September. His insolent manner soon made 
him obnoxious, and having intimated that the President 



2o8 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MADISON [1810 

and his Cabinet understood the limit of Erskine's in- 
structions and had designedly led him to transcend, Madi- 
son refused to hold further communication with him, and 
the impertinent diplomat was obliged to return to Eng- 
land. When Congress met, the outlook was gloomy, and 
Gallatin's report showed, for the first time during his 
Secretaryship, a deficit in the revenue, the result of the 
embargo act. A few months later, March, 181 o, matters 
were further complicated by the Rambouillet decree. By 
this edict of Napoleon, every American vessel and cargo 
which, since the previous May, had entered or should 
enter any port of France or her colonies, or any country 
occupied by France, was liable to be seized and sold. 
This order would apply to Spain, Holland and Italy. 
American ships having put forth heavily laden during 
the interval of repeal were now captured by hundreds. 
The reasons can be readily discerned for Napoleon's 
attitude towards the United States. He desired to cap- 
ture the supplies that otherwise would, in all likelihood, 
fall into the possession of his enemy. He wished the 
United States to take arms against England, and was 
not averse to punishing a nation resolutely thwarting 
his plans by persistent neutrality. 

Early in 1810, the Non-Intercourse Act expired by 
limitation. Congress failed to restore it, but passed in- 
stead, Macon's Bill No. 2 (May i, 1810). Nathaniel 
Macon was Chairman of the Committee having the Bill 
in charge, and had presented a previous measure (Ma- 
con's Bill No. i) which proposed a wiser policy of re- 
taliation; but it had been inspired by Gallatin, and the 
cabal opposed to him had succeeded in killing it. Macon's 
Bill No. 2 provided that if either England or France, 
before March 3, 181 1, so revoked their decrees that the 
neutral commerce of America was no longer violated, 



i8io] MACON BILL NO. 2 209 

the President should proclaim the fact, and if the other 
nation should not, within three months thereafter, do 
the same, then the Non-Intercourse Act should be re- 
vived against the offending nation. This was a sorry 
ending to all the heated debates and wrangles, for from 
Madison's taking office until war was declared against 
England, in 181 2, excited debates in Congress tossed 
English orders, French decrees, Napoleon's treachery 
and British aggressions back and forth, from day to day 
and month to month. Macon's Bill No. 2 merely of- 
fered a present inducement and a future threat. Napo- 
leon cleverly seized the opportunity to bid for American 
commerce and to further embroil the United States with 
England. Through the Duke of Cadore he informed 
the American Minister at Paris that in failing to reenact 
the Non-Intercourse Law, his Government had shown 
friendship for France and had, by the Macon Bill, en- 
gaged to oppose whichever belligerent refused the rights 
of neutrals. He should, in consequence, revoke the 
Berlin and Milan decrees. The Duke added : " It is 
with most particular satisfaction that I inform you o£ 
this resolution of the Emperor. His Majesty loves the 
Americans. Their prosperity and their commerce enter 
into the views of his policy. The independence of 
America is one of the principal titles of the glory of 
France." Delightful flattery, though reminding one of 
the old fable of the fox and the crow with the cheese. 

Napoleon had placed his oivn interpretation upon the 
Macon Bill, yet the news of his friendly intention was 
received with satisfaction. The Cadore letter simplified 
matters; it left only England to be dealt with. And 
how did she receive this new departure? In no con- 
ciliatory spirit. She expressed her doubt of Napoleon's 
sincerity, and declared that when she saw the new policy 



2IO PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MADISON [1810 

enforced beyond a doubt, she would act accordingly. On 
November 2, 1810, the President issued a proclamation, 
announcing that the Berlin and Milan decrees were re- 
voked, which was, in effect, a three months' warning to 
England. Those were not happy months for America. 
France more than excited suspicion of her good faith by 
new commercial laws. By these, thirty American ves- 
sels were permitted to bring stated articles of merchan- 
dise to France, but must take certain French goods in 
exchange for their cargoes. The vessels must sail from 
either the port of New York, or Charleston, and to prove 
the fact, the Captain must bring a newspaper published 
in the city from whence he sailed, printed on the day of 
sailing, and also a certificate from the French Consul 
with a sentence written in cipher. 

As for England, she would give no intimation of her 
intentions beyond her determination to watch the course 
of France, but the news that the English admiralty had 
condemned eighteen American vessels with their cargoes, 
in all valued at about $1,000,000, was a fresh cause 
of indignation. In this time of doubt and anxiety the 
President had to bear more than his share of annoyance, 
owing to the cabal in his own party, which succeeded in 
defeating administration measures and greatly embar- 
rassing the executive. At last, Madison dismissed his 
incompetent Secretary of State, Robert Smith, of Mary- 
land (who, with his brother in the Senate, had cared 
little who suffered, if they could but strike Gallatin), 
and appointed in his place James Monroe. This was a 
wise choice and united the party more closely. Gallatin, 
feeling that his enemies had destroyed his usefulness in 
the Cabinet, resigned, and the President appointed him 
to the Russian Mission. 

The charter of the United States Bank expired in 



i8ir] FAILURE TO RECHARTER U. S. BANK 211 

March, 181 1. The bank had been a great success; its 
circulation was $5,000,000, and its $13,000,000 of Ha- 
bilities was offset by $23,600,000 of assets, while it 
paid a dividend to the stockholders of eight and one 
half per cent. It had proved very useful to the Govern- 
ment in transacting business, but when application was 
made to Congress for renewal of its charter, all the old 
antagonism was aroused. Again it was declared to be 
unconstitutional, to favor a moneyed class and, a new 
objection, it would injure the state banks ; there were 
now 103 of these institutions conducted with more or 
less recklessness. The advocates of the bank declared 
it constitutional, set forth the advantages to business of 
a sound bank, with branches in all the large cities, and 
the danger to the country in disturbing its finances on 
the eve of a war. The contest was bitter, but finally 
renewal was lost by a tie vote in the Senate, the Vice- 
President voting " No." Congress destroyed the bank, 
and by so doing contracted the currency by over 
$5,000,000. 

The President's proclamation made February 2, 181 1, 
the day upon which all communication with Great Britain 
should cease unless she had revoked her oppressive meas- 
ures. The time having passed, the Non-Intercourse Act 
was again in force, and in February a bill was introduced 
in Congress for confirming by legislative enactments 
the President's proclamation. Randolph and the Quids, 
aided by the Federalists, attempted by every device to 
prevent a vote. At last, during an all-night session, 
after a scene of wild disorder which resulted in a duel 
between Randolph and his opponent in debate, a vote 
was taken at five o'clock in the morning, and in order 
to compel a decision the rule of the previous queston was 
enforced as it is now understood. McMaster says: 



212 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MADISON [1811 

" Thus was firmly established the Congressional proce- 
dure ; the rule of the previous question ; the rule which 
centralizes power in the hands of the majority, which 
cuts off debate, which stifles the voice of the minority 
and deprives it of the greatest of the few privileges which 
in our system of government it properly possesses. It 
is indeed a fundamental principle of government by the 
people that the majority shall rule. But it is likewise 
a fundamental principle that the majority shall be fair 
and just, that it shall not be tyrannical, that it shall not 
do acts merely because it has the power. Yet it is pre- 
cisely such arbitrary acts that the rule of the previous 
question enables the majority to do. On the February 
day, when it was adopted. Congressional government 
suffered a great revolution. Since that day Congress 
has steadily become less and less of a deliberative body, 
and more and more a body whose duty is to register the 
decrees of the majority." 

The nation was rapidly drifting into a war which was 
opposed by New England and the conservative element 
throughout the country. 

By 181 1 a change had taken place in national politics, 
it was no longer the North and South, but the West as 
well. A new element had arisen — " Young America," 
and a new leader — Henry Clay. It has been said : 
" Few public characters in American History have been 
the subjects of more heated controversy than Henry Clay. 
There was no measure of detraction and obloquy to 
which, during his lifetime, his opponents would not 
resort, and there seemed to be no limit to the admiration 
and attachment of his friends." 

Henry Clay, the son of a Baptist clergyman, was bom 
April 12, 1777, in a Virginian neighborhood called 
the " Slashes." His father died leaving a large family 



iSii] HENRY CLAY 213 

in destitute circumstances. The liard-working mother 
sent Henry to the log-cabin school-house, and when not 
at school, the boy worked as he could, often riding to 
mill seated on the bag of grain thrown across the horse 
in place of a saddle ; this, in later years, gave rise to the 
campaign cry, " Vote for the Mill-boy of the Slashes." 
At fourteen he was placed in a store at Richmond, but 
after a year became clerk in a law office, where he 
attracted the attention of the famous Chancellor Wythe, 
who made him his amanuensis and took a fatherly in- 
terest in the clever lad. He studied for the bar, and, 
on being admitted, decided to go to Kentucky and grow 
up with the country. In that flourishing community 
he soon became a celebrated criminal lawyer, gained 
wealth, and married a most estimable young woman, 
who became the devoted mother of eleven children. 
Clay was sent to the United States Senate to fill an 
unexpired term, and later, on November 4, 181 1, when 
but thirty-four years old, took his seat as a member of 
the House of Representatives, which proceeded to elect 
him speaker. He now became a remarkable figure in 
political life, and it is said : " The secret of his power 
lay in the... gift of persuading others, in his mastery 
of the American heart, which he swayed while swaying 
with it, — first, by his eloquence, full of bold imagery, 
whose vehemence shamed the timid and roused the vigo- 
rous; next, by a skilful management of men with dif- 
ferent proclivities, whom he drew together by a thrill 
of personal sympathy. . . From the moment he took the 
gavel into his hand, Quincy and Randolph had a foe- 
man worthy of them ; the House, the popular leader 
whom two Presidents had sought in vain; and the 
country, a foreign policy the most spirited, if not the 
wisest." The " War Hawks," as Clay's followers were 



2 14 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MADISON [1812 

called, urged vigorous measures. The army was in- 
creased, and appropriations voted for military supplies 
and for the better equipment of the navy. Owing to 
the Republican policy of economy. Congress was more 
willing to provide for the army than for the navy, argu- 
ing that additional troops could at any time be disbanded, 
but that an increase of the navy meant a permanent 
outlay, as ships must necessarily be retained after the 
need for them had passed. Again it was argued, Great 
Britain is all powerful upon the sea. We shall have 
only to protect our ports ; we cannot hope to contend 
with her navy ; but we shall conquer on land, invade 
Canada, and dictate peace from Halifax or Quebec, — 
the " War Hawks " were not insistent upon which city. 
The results were to be strangely different. The war 
party was now in the lead, and Madison must join in 
the march or be left behind; it has been asserted that 
his nomination for a second term was made conditional 
upon his declaring for war. He was reelected and in- 
augurated on March 4, 181 3, with Elbridge Gerry, of 
Massachusetts, Vice-President. Madison was a friend 
of peace and well aware of the danger of entering into 
a war with one of the greatest powers in the world 
while so ill prepared. But he was borne along with the 
popular current. On April 4, 1812, he signed the bill 
which placed an embargo for ninety days. This was 
considered a preliminary war measure by the " War 
Hawks," but the peace party hoped it would wring a 
final concession from Great Britain. The war fever rose 
in the South and West; the opposition became more in- 
tense in the North and East. On June 18, 1812, Congress 
declared war against Great Britain, and five days after 
England revoked her " Orders in Council." Impressment, 
however, was still enforced and the war continued. 



iBt2] IVAR OF 1812 215 

The Americans were very successful upon the sea, 
for the hardy sailors of New England understood their 
duties and burned to redress the wrongs of impress- 
ment. Not only were the achievements of the regular 
navy remarkable, but privateers put out from every port 
and did glorious work ; amazed Britain saw seventeen 
hundred British ships captured during the three years 
of war. The land record was disastrous ; the Americans 
never gained a foothold in Canada, and finally had to 
fight to regain what they had lost. Washington was taken 
and all the public buildings burned except the Patent Of- 
fice, but a brave resistance saved Baltimore and sent the 
invaders back to their ships. These misfortunes were 
owing to raw troops and a lack of competent officers. 
Those who had commanded in the Revolution were now 
too advanced in years for active service and the young 
men, untrained and inexperienced, made but a poor show- 
ing against seasoned soldiers, who had led their men 
against the armies of Napoleon. But by the third year 
of the war, the troops had become more competent and 
young commanders of merit were coming to the front; 
the Americans began to regain lost ground, which was 
most fortunate, for England, aroused by her enemy's 
naval success had sent a great squadron and strongly 
blockaded the coast. There was one great victory — the 
battle of New Orleans, where the American troops under 
General Andrew Jackson, defeated the trained veterans of 
the Peninsula, a month after the treaty of. peace was 
signed, but before the news had been received in those 
days of slow communication. 

A far distant power aided in securing the Treaty of 
Peace. The Emperor of Russia was ill pleased that his 
ally, England, should have another war on hand, while 
Napoleon was invading Russia, so he offered to act as 



2i6 PRESIDENCY OF. JAMES MADISON fiSia 

mediator, and John Quincy Adams, the American Min- 
ister at St. Petersburgh, informed Madison of these amia- 
ble intentions. The President appointed Adams, Gallatin 
and Senator Bayard of Delaware, an able and patriotic 
Federalist, Commissioners to negotiate a treaty if it could 
be brought about. Their instructions regarding impress- 
ment read : "If this encroachment is not provided 
against, the United States has appealed to arms in vain. 
If your efforts to accomplish it should fail, all further 
negotiation will cease, and you will return home without 
delay." On arriving in St. Petersburg (July, 1813) 
they learned that Great Britain refused to arbitrate. She 
preferred to treat directly with the United States and 
after a time sent a proposal to that effect to the President, 
who promptly appointed a new Commission, consisting 
of Adams, Bayard, Clay, Gallatin and Jonathan Russell, 
Minister to Sweden. They met in June, 1814, at Ghent, 
in the Netherlands. So diverse were they in character 
that it was about as difficult for them to agree among 
themselves as with the English envoys ; especially John 
Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The cold New Eng- 
lander and the fiery Kentuckian, the Puritan who felt that 
to sit after dinner over the wine and cigars was a waste 
of time from more serious pursuits, and the genial West- 
erner who played cards all night. They were alike only 
in patriotism, courage and a hot temper. " Each of us," 
wrote Adams, " takes a separate and distinct view of the 
subject-matter, and each naturally thinks his own view 
of it the most important." But fortunately all discordant 
elements were adjusted by the patience, ability and tact 
of Albert Gallatin. Early in August, negotiations began 
by the following demands presented by the English en- 
voys : All the country, now comprising Michigan, Illi- 
nois and Wisconsin, the larger part of Indiana, and about 



i8i4] TREATY OF GHENT 21^ 

one^third of Ohio to be set apart for the Indians, to serve 
as a " buffer " — a perpetual protection of the British 
possessions against American ambition. America to keep 
no armed vessels on the great lakes. A slice of the State 
of Maine to be ceded, in order that a road might be made 
from Halifax to Quebec. And the English to be allowed 
the right of free navigation on the Mississippi. These 
humiliating demands were at once rejected and the Amer- 
icans prepared to return home. Their firmness alarmed 
the English Ministry, which did not wish to continue the 
war, although the fall of Napoleon had placed a great 
number of troops at liberty. Their people were tired of 
war and burdened by war taxes ; furthermore, there was 
the disquieting remembrance of the Russian Emperor's 
friendly interest in the United States ; perchance he might 
be inclined again to assist them ; assuredly peace was 
desirable. The English envoys were instructed to resume 
negotiations. After five weary months of debate the 
Treaty of Ghent was signed December 24, 1814. By 
its provisions all things were to be restored as they were 
before the war, and the questions of search and impress- 
ment were not mentioned. Carl Schurz says : " The Or- 
ders in Council furnished the principal cause of the war. 
That cause happened to disappear at the same time that 
the war was declared. Hostilities were continued on a 
secondary issue. But when peace was made, neither the 
one nor the other was by so much as a single word 
alluded to in the treaty. To cap the climax, the principal 
battle of the war. . .was fought after the peace had been 
signed. The American Commissioners, with no decisive 
victories on their side to boast of, with no well organized 
armies to support their pretensions, with no national ships 
on the high seas, with the capture of Washington, the 
burning of the Capitol, and the hurried flight of the 



2i8 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MADISON [1815 

President still a favorite theme of jest at the dinner tables 
and in the clubs all over Europe, they had to confront the 
representatives of the haughtiest, and, in some respects, 
the strongest power on earth. And they dislodged them 
from position after position until finally they accepted 
a treaty which stood in strange contrast to their original 
attitude." 

Their labors finished, the Commissioners separated. 
Gallatin was made Minister to France and Adams Min- 
ister to England, while Clay, after his return home, was 
elected to Congress and in December, 181 6, was again 
chosen Speaker of the House. 

An intense opposition to the war had been manifested 
by New England. Her commercial interests were seri- 
ously affected and her unprotected sea-coast exposed to 
constant danger of attack. This bitterness and discontent 
culminated in the Hartford Convention, which was a meet- 
ing of Federalist delegates from every New England 
State. The Republicans claimed that it was the intention of 
this Assembly either to negotiate a separate treaty of peace 
with England, or else to withdraw New England from 
the Union and unite with Canada. These charges were 
never proven, and the address, issued by the Convention 
(January 4, 1815), after a secret session of three weeks, 
affords no excuse for such statements, being simply an 
appeal to the States for united action in obtaining certain 
governmental changes and reforms. But so deep was the 
resentment against their suspected designs that it proved 
the political extinction of every man connected with it. 
The Hartford Convention was a term of reproach to be 
cast at New England Federalists for many years there- 
after, while the Republicans gained the prestige of supe- 
rior patriotism. 

The Treaty of Peace was received with joy in America 



i8i6] BANK OF U. S. CHARTERED 219 

and the nation prepared to mend its broken fortunes. 
There was a large war debt. In January, 181 6, the public 
debt of the United States was $127,335,000, but it de- 
creased steadily and within twenty years the Govern- 
ment did not owe one dollar. 

The Republicans having become convinced of their mis- 
take in destroying the bank, Congress chartered another 
Bank of the United States, with a capital of $35,000,000, 
of which the Government took $7,000,000. The charter 
was limited to twenty years. The bank was opened in 
Philadelphia in 1816, and soon had branches established 
in all the large cities. 

In the first year of the war the Territory of Orleans 
had been admitted into the Union as the State of Louisi- 
ana; the territory of that name being thereafter called 
Missouri. 

Madison's administration closed happily. The country 
enjoyed a peace more secure than it had ever known. 
The bitterness of party strife was for the present quieted. 
" There should be no difference of parties," remarked 
Josiah Quincy, " for the Republicans have out-Federal- 
ized Federalism." 



CHAPTER XIII 

PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE 

James Monroe^ who was inaugurated President of the 
United States March 4, 1817, was another distin- 
guished son of Virginia. He left the College of William 
and Mary to enter the Revolutionary Army, becoming at 
twenty a staff-officer with the rank of Major. Wash- 
ington wrote that he was a brave, active and sensible 
officer, which he had proved in the Battles of White 
Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown and Mon- 
mouth. On leaving the army, he studied law and served 
in the legislature of his own State and in the Congress of 
the Confederation. Monroe was an early and life-long 
friend of Jefferson and Madison, but notwithstanding his 
intimacy with the " Father of the Constitution," he was 
an Anti-Federalist and, with Patrick Henry, opposed the 
adoption of the Constitution, though finally assenting, 
on condition that it be accepted with the addition of a 
Bill of Rights. In December, 1790, he took his seat in 
the United States Senate serving three years. During 
that time he united with Jefferson and Madison in oppo- 
sition to Hamilton. As he had not hesitated to oppose 
the administration, it was a surprise to himself and others 
when Washington appointed him Minister to France in 
1794. This young diplomatist, placed amid scenes of 
extraordinary excitement, filled with enthusiasm by the 
talk of liberty and flattered by the ardent welcome ex- 



i8i7] "ERA OF GOOD FEELING" 221 

tended to him as the representative of a sister RepubHc, 
exceeded his instructions. He displayed an interest and 
sympathy that led to expectations which the United 
States was unwilling to gratify, for strict neutrality was 
Washington's wise policy. He was recalled and on his 
return attempted to justify his course in a pamphlet called 
" View of the Conduct of the Executive." In the news- 
paper war that followed. Federalists and Republicans, 
after the manner of the day, indulged in intense abuse. 
During Jefferson's administration, he was again sent on 
a diplomatic mission to France, which resulted in " the 
greatest real estate transaction ever known," the purchase 
of Louisiana, and drew from Napoleon the prophecy : " I 
have given England a maritime rival, which will, sooner 
or later, humble her pride." Monroe was unsuccessful 
in London, for with Pinckney he negotiated the treaty 
that Jefferson pigeon-holed, but as Madison's Secretary 
of State he won general approval. 

In the Electoral College, he received 183 votes, while 
Rufus King, the Federalist, received 34. Daniel D. 
Tompkins, Governor of New York, was made Vice- 
President. Monroe was a frank, generous man of un- 
sullied honor, not brilliant, but painstaking, industrious 
and conscientious. His administration of eight years was 
called the " Era of Good Feeling." When he was re- 
elected for a second term, he received every vote in the 
Electoral College but one, that being cast by a New 
Hampshire delegate because, it is said, he did not wish 
any other man to receive the same honor as Washington. 

It was a time of peace abroad and prosperity at home, 
excepting for the financial depression of 1819, which was 
due to over-trading and reckless banking. In Kentucky 
alone, the Legislature of 181 7 had chartered thirty-nine 
new banks, although there was a state bank, with four- 



222 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1817 

teen branches already existing. The usual results fol- 
lowed — depreciated and worthless bank notes, a rise in 
prices and a disturbance of credit. In the midst of these 
evils, suspicion was aroused by the conduct of the United 
States Bank and Congress ordered an investigation, 
which disclosed corruption and breach of trust. Failures 
and business depression followed, but the bank was re- 
organized on a sound basis and under a management of 
undoubted honesty its usefulness for the future was 
assured. 

Monroe, shortly after his inauguration, made a tour 
through the Eastern States visiting the principal cities 
and going as far as Portland ; returning, he passed through 
the northern tier of States westward to Detroit and back 
again, by way of Pittsburgh, to Washington. Two years 
later he visited the South and West. He was the first 
President since Washington to go among the people and 
his journeys were a triumphal progress, the greatest en- 
thusiasm being everywhere displayed and men of all par- 
ties uniting to do him honor. The old party lines began 
to fade ; there were left but few extremists in either camp ; 
but the great struggle yet to come was foreshadowed in 
Monroe's administration by the " Missouri Compromise." 

The adoption of the Constitution was only secured by 
compromises between the Northern and Southern States 
in regard to slavery and at the time it was generally 
thought that the institution would gradually disappear. 
This expectation was not realized owing to two causes — 
the purchase of Louisiana and the invention of the cotton- 
gin. By the former was added an immense domain in 
which it was possible to extend slavery. Before that, owing 
to the Ordinance of 1787 and the sentiment of the North, 
slavery was limited to the Southern States. By the in- 
vention of the cotton-gin a tremendous impulse was given 



1792] ELI WHITNEY 223 

to the raising of cotton, with the consequent necessity for 
slave labor and Virginia, whose rather exhausted soil was 
not so well adapted as formerly for agriculture, was 
tempted to enter into the profitable business of breeding 
negroes for the slave marts of the far South. 

The cotton-gin was invented by Eli Whitney and it 
is interesting to know something of a man whose inven- 
tive genius was responsible for such tremendous results. 
He was a native of Massachusetts, his father being a 
small farmer, who increased his meagre income by mak- 
ing, during the winter, wheels and chairs. In his father's 
workshop Eli early displayed that ingenuity and mechan- 
ical skill which were to make him famous. He deter- 
mined to obtain a liberal education, but was not able to 
enter Yale until he was twenty-three years old and then 
had to work his way through. On leaving college in 1792 
he went South, to become a tutor, and on the journey had 
the good fortune to make the acquaintance of the widow 
of General Nathaniel Green. On arriving at Savannah 
he was ill and Mrs. Green kindly invited him to her 
home. As a result of this delay he lost his engagement, 
and his hostess offered him the position of tutor to her 
own children which he gladly accepted. Noticing the 
tambour or frame which held Mrs. Green's embroidery, 
he made one of greatly improved design, and also de- 
lighted the children with several ingenious toys. On an 
occasion soon after, a number of planters who were Mrs. 
Green's guests, were discussing the depressed state of 
agriculture, which was owing to the unprofitable culture 
of cotton, caused by the cost of separating the seed from 
the fibre. " Gentlemen," said Mrs. Green, " apply to my 
young friend, Mr. Whitney. He can make anything." 
She then showed them his devices and in the conversation 
that followed the young man remarked that he had never 



224 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1793 

seen cotton nor cotton-seed in his life. Nevertheless, he 
obtained the bolls, shut himself up in a basement room 
and worked out his experiments in secret, — it would 
have been well had he continued the secrecy. But a ma- 
chine being finished, a number of southern gentlemen 
were invited to view it and to their delighted amazement, 
saw that one man could, in a single day, free from the 
seed as much cotton as fifteen or twenty men could by 
hand. 

Mrs. Green having married Mr. Phineas Miller who, 
like Whitney, was a Yale man and a former tutor to 
her children, a partnership was formed, Mr. Miller sup- 
plying the needed funds. But unfortunately the fame of 
the invention had been noised abroad; the building that 
held it was broken open in the night and the precious 
machine carried off. As a consequence, the firm of Miller 
and Whitney for years fought infringements of patents 
until they were ruined. Miller died poor and embar- 
rassed, and Whitney would have shared a like fate had he 
not turned his inventive genius to other uses, and by 
his improvement of fire-arms finally won a competency. 

The reason for the South's desire to maintain slavery 
and to gain an extension of slave territory is plainly evi- 
dent. Cotton was fast becoming king, their wealth de- 
pended upon that product and the negro labor thought 
necessary for its culture. Schouler makes this plea for 
them : " The Union had never said to a State : ' Emanci- 
pate, and we will indemnify you,' but, * Emancipate, and 
bear your own loss.' There was a southern conscience, 
nevertheless, the dread of an unshared impoverishment, 
in order to please mankind, stifled its voice." 

The balance of free and slave States had been main- 
tained by admitting two States, one of each class, at the 
game time, as, for instance, Vermont and Kentucky, Indi- 



i8i8] ADMISSION OF MISSOURI 225 

ana and Mississippi, Illinois and Alabama. But this equi- 
librium was about to be disturbed, for in December, 1818, 
Missouri applied to Congress for permission to form 
a state government. Louisiana had been the only State 
as yet admitted formed from the purchased territory, and 
as slavery was already established there when it came 
into possession of the United States the fact was ac- 
cepted quietly ; but now the people were called to face 
a grave responsibility. Were Missouri to be admitted 
into the Union with a Constitution recognizing slavery, 
it would open to its future extension a great domain, 
larger than the original thirteen States. There had been 
no serious agitation of the question since 1808, when the 
importation of slaves was abolished ; but now the North 
awoke. In Congress there were heated debates but the 
only result was a bill that passed both Houses, establish- 
ing a separate territorial government for the southern 
part of Missouri, to be known as the Territory of Arkan- 
sas. When Congress adjourned the country was greatly 
excited over the pending question ; the press teemed with 
it ; mass-meetings were held and anti-slavery societies 
sprang into life. Later, legislatures of northern States 
passed resolutions opposing an extension of slavery. This 
feeling soon took a political turn and southern Repub- 
licans saw with dismay their adherents at the North join- 
ing with the remnants of Federalism and a new issue aris- 
ing that threatened disaster to the Republican party. The 
instinct of self-preservation united the Southerners, and 
their legislatures followed suit and passed resolutions 
which deplored restrictions by Congress as the condition 
of Missouri's admittance. " Would force be used," it 
was asked, "to compel Missouri to emancipate? If so, 
the South would make her cause, which was the cause 
of self-government, their own, and fight with her." The 



2 26 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1819 

North did not propose to interfere with slavery in any 
State where it then existed, as all that territory, except 
Louisiana, was included in the original thirteen States 
which had adopted the Constitution, But Congress had 
the right over acquired territory to extend the principles of 
the Ordinance of 1787 and to insist on any conditions as 
a stipulation of statehood, which were compatible with 
the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Congress has 
in recent years exercised this right by refusing to admit 
Utah until polygamy was abolished. 

Notwithstanding the heavy penalties the foreign traf- 
fic in negroes continued and Congress, by an act passed 
in 18 19, authorized the Government to employ naval ves- 
sels for the capture of slave ships on the coasts of Africa 
and America. A writer well expresses the northern senti- 
ment when he says : " Pricked at the conscience by the 
late revelation that a traffic forbidden by law and de- 
nounced by the Christian world had been secretly revived 
to stock the southwestern country with laborers ; alarmed 
at the defiant tone which slaveholders had assumed in 
the recent debates ; shamed that recreant America should 
stand forth, amid the jeers of monarchies, holding in one 
hand the Charter of Independence, with the other bran- 
dishing a whip over the back of a negro, — the North, 
shaking off the bonds of slumber, forbade, in a voice of 
thunder, the further advance of slavery into the national 
domain." 

On the meeting of the sixteenth Congress, in Decem- 
ber, 1819, the Missouri contest was at once renewed ; but 
there was now a new phase that appeared to simplify 
matters. The legislature of Massachusetts had passed an 
act of separation from Maine, on condition that Con- 
gress, prior to March 4, 1820, accepted Maine as an 
independent State. This would restore the old balance. 



i82o] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 227 

Maine joining the Union as a free State and Missouri as 
a slave State and on the same day, December 8, 18 19, 
they both apphed to Congress for admission. But this 
plan did not satisfy the aroused conscience of the North 
and the struggle began. The Maine Bill promptly passed 
the House and went to the Senate. The Senate referred 
it to a committee and it was reported back with an amend- 
ment, made by taking a wafer and with it fastening a 
bill to admit Missouri, without restriction as to slavery, 
to the bill to admit Maine. An effort was made to sep- 
arate the bills. Finding that they could not part them, 
the minority struggled to amend the Missouri Bill by a 
clause that any further introduction of slaves into that 
State should be absolutely forbidden. A great debate 
followed and at the same time the House was becoming 
heated over the Missouri Bill. In both Houses excited 
crowds watched the contest, and many ladies who at- 
tended, being friends of members, were accorded the 
courtesy of a seat on the floor. John Randolph, in the 
course of a House debate, shook his finger at the fair 
listeners and said, in his shrill voice : " Mr. Speaker, 
what, pray, are all these women doing here, so out of 
place in this arena? Sir, they had much better be at 
home, attending to their knitting." 

During this debate. Clay had little to say. The south- 
ern contingent in both Houses always voted together. 
As the limit of time approached for the admission of 
Maine, northern members became anxious, for Massa- 
chusetts had not been over-pleased at dismemberment; 
as for the southern members, they saw with alarm the 
anti-slavery attitude of northern Republicans. The time 
was ripe for compromise, when Senator Thomas, of Illi- 
nois, moved that in the tract of country ceded by France 
to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, in all 



2 28 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1820 

the territory north of 36° 30' north latitude, except so 
much as was to be inckided in Missouri, there should be 
no slavery. This was finally passed in the Senate as an 
amendment to the IMissouri Bill, the bill itself being 
tacked to the Maine Bill as an amendment. It was thus 
sent to the House. That body stripped the Missouri rider 
from the Maine Bill, voted down the Thomas amendment 
to the Missouri Bill by a large majority, and returned to 
the consideration of its own bill to admit Missouri. 
Then the House sent their Missouri Bill to the Senate, 
with an amendment offered by John W. Taylor, of New 
York. This forbade further slavery in Missouri, though 
not freeing slaves already in servitude. The Senate, 
within twenty- four hours, returned the bill, with Taylor's 
amendment cut off and Thomas's tacked on in its place. 
The Senate would not recede ; the House stood firm. 
Finally, the Senate proposed a Conference, which resulted 
in three recommendations ; these were : the Senate 
should give up the attempt to unite the IMaine and Mis- 
souri Bills in one and should vote to admit IMaine; the 
House should no longer insist on the exclusion of slavery 
from Missouri ; and both Houses should agree to pass the 
Missouri Senate Bill, with the Thomas amendment, 
whereby slavery was permitted in that state, but shut out 
from all the rest of the Louisiana territory north of the 
parallel of 36° 30'. It was hard to yield, but the House 
passed the Senate Bill March 2, 1820, and the Senate, 
on March 3d, passed the IMaine Bill, which was signed 
on the same day by the President. Of the eighteen 
northern men, whose votes or intentional absence from 
the House rendered the Missouri Compromise possible, 
fifteen came from States whose legislatures had solemnly 
protested against the admission of IMissouri as a slave 
State and those eighteen men John Randolph, during a 



1823] MONROE DOCTRINE 229 

debate, called " dough-faces " ; a name which for over 
forty years was to designate the northern man with south- 
ern principles. 

Thus, after a winter of debate, was accomplished, by 
the aid of northern men, the Missouri Compromise and 
the United States thereupon entered that conflict which 
Horace Greeley has called " the Record of a Nation's 
Struggle up from Darkness and Bondage to Light and 
Liberty." 

The most important event of Monroe's administration, 
aside from the Missouri Compromise, was that declaration 
of principles which is known as the Monroe Doctrine. 
President Oilman in his biography says : " I do not 
suppose he regarded this announcement as his own . . . 
It was because he pronounced not only the opinion then 
prevalent, but a tradition of other days, which had been 
gradually expanded and to which the country was wonted, 
that his words carried with them the sanction of public 
law. A careful examination of the writings of the earlier 
statesmen of the Republic will illustrate the growth of 
the Monroe Doctrine as an idea dimly entertained at 
first, but steadily developed by the course of public events 
and the reflection of those in public life." This is per- 
fectly true, but the credit for formulating and applying 
these ideas belongs to Monroe and his Secretary of State, 
John Ouincy Adams. 

By this time many of the South American countries 
had succeeded in throwing off the yoke of Spain and 
their efforts for independence had been watched with 
sympathy by the United States. These weak, struggling 
Republics were now threatened by the Holy Alliance 
which, successful in Europe, planned to intervene in the 
New World in behalf of the restoration of Spanish sov- 
ereignty. Monroe's annual message to Congress, Decem- 



230 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1823 

ber 2, 1823, contained the famous declaration in these 
words: "The occasion has been judged proper for as- 
serting as a principle in which the rights and interests of 
the United States are involved, that the American Conti- 
nents, by the free and independent conditions which they 
have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be con- 
sidered as subjects for future colonization by any Euro- 
pean power." Again : " We owe it, therefore, to candor 
and to the amicable relations existing between the United 
States and those powers to declare that zuc should con- 
sider any attempt on their part to extend their system to 
a)iy portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace 
and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies 
of any European power we have not interfered and shall 
not interfere. But with the Governments which have de- 
clared their independence and maintained it and whose 
independence we have, on great consideration and on just 
principles, acknowledged, we could not view any inter- 
position for the purpose of oppressing them, or control- 
ling in any other manner their destiny, by any European 
power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an 
unfriendly disposition tozvards the United States." And 
finally : " Our policy in regard to Europe, which was 
adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long 
agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains 
the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal con- 
cerns of any of its powers;. . .to cultivate friendly rela- 
tions with all and to preserve those relations by a frank, 
firm and manly policy; meeting, in all instances, the just 
claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none." 
That is the original text of the Monroe Doctrine. Briefly 
stated, it asserts that the United States will not interfere 
in European affairs, but will oppose the invasion by any 
European power of the territorial and political rights of 



i8i8] SEMINOLE WAR 231 

the independent States of North and South America. This 
policy, so quietly announced, has had the desired effect. 
During- the Civil War, Napoleon III. placed Maximilian 
upon the throne of Mexico, but as soon as the United 
States was at liberty to look after its neighbor's affairs 
that Empire collapsed. 

Monroe's appointment of John Quincy Adams as Sec- 
retary of State, was most fortunate and equally fortunate 
was that of Richard Rush as Minister at the English 
Court. Rush was a man of ability and culture, whose 
uprightness of character and charm of manner made him 
very popular in England, although he was always a thor- 
ough-paced American. 

Negotiations were commenced with Spain, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining Florida, as the weakness of Spanish 
rule in that Peninsula was a constant menace to the 
United States. The Seminole Indians there sought shel- 
ter, and aided by runaway slaves and white adventurers, 
made hostile raids into the territory of the United States. 
Determined to end these depredations, the Government 
sent a force, under General Jackson, to southern Georgia. 
Jackson was given permission to enter Florida in pursuit 
of the foe, but on no account was he to molest a Spanish 
post, for the Government was at peace with Spain and 
would have refrained from an invasion of her territory 
had she been able herself to restore order. Jackson, how- 
ever, proceeded to act on his own responsibility. He not 
only invaded Florida and destroyed the power of the 
Seminoles, but he arrested two Englishmen, tried them on 
the charge of stirring up the Indians to war against the 
United States, and promptly had one shot and the other 
hung. He then proceeded to Pensacola, the strongest 
post in Florida, captured the fort and having seen its 
indignant Commander set sail for Havana, he left an 



232 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [i8-'i 

American garrison in charge and returned with his main 
army to the United States. This extraordinary conclu- 
sion of the Seminole War caused great excitement. Spain 
naturally resented such high-handed measures, and Eng- 
land was indignant that two of her subjects, however 
worthless, should have been executed upon doubtful evi- 
dence. The Government disavowed Jackson's unauthor- 
ized proceedings, and restored the captured fort to Spain, 
while clever diplomacy on the part of Adams and Rush 
smoothed out matters abroad. A treaty with Spain was 
finally ratified in 1821, by which the United States re- 
ceived all of Florida, under an arrangement that cost her 
about $5,000,000. Jackson's conduct was made the 
subject of inquiry by Congress. A vote to censure him 
was tabled in the Senate and the House sustained him, 
notwithstanding that Clay made a brilliant speech in op- 
position. Jackson was now more popular than ever. The 
people had wanted Florida annexed, they were not par- 
ticular as to the manner in which it was obtained, and 
Jackson's broad interpretation of the " military discretion 
reposed in him " was deemed sufficient justification by 
his admirers. In April, 182 1, he was made Governor of 
the new territory of Florida, but his arbitrary conduct 
soon embroiled him with the former authorities and to 
Monroe's relief he resigned his position. 

On the northwest Pacific coast a settlement had been 
planted, near the mouth of the Columbia River, known 
as Astoria, so named for John Jacob Astor of New York, 
whose money had fitted out the expedition. The place 
was intended to be the headquarters of the Pacific Fur 
Company which Astor had founded. The United States 
had gained this northwest corner of the country by right 
of discovery and settlement. During the War of 
18 1 2, Astoria fell into the hands of the English, but 



i82i] THE" AMERICAN SYSTEM" 233 

was restored in 1818 in accordance with the Treaty of 
Ghent. 

About this time, England and America were discussing 
the vexed question of the boundary between British 
America and the United States. Stratford Canning was 
the British Minister at Washington. He is better known 
as Lord Stratford de Redclyffe, that dictatorial, imperi- 
ous English Minister at Constantinople during the Cri- 
mean War, who imposed his mandates on the Sultan and 
saw to it that they were obeyed. As Adams' temper and 
firmness were of the same quality, the interviews between 
the two men, as noted at the time in Adams' diary, are 
very amusing. Here is a specimen. An allusion had 
been made to the Shetland Islands. " Have you," said 
Mr. Canning, " any claim to the Shetland Islands ? " 
" Have you any claim," I said, " to the mouth of the 
Columbia River?" "Why, do you not know," replied 
he, " that we have a claim ? " "I do not know," said I, 
" what you claim, nor what you do not claim. You claim 
India ; you claim Africa ; you claim " — " Perhaps," said 
he, " a piece of the moon." " No," said I, " I have not 
heard that you claim exclusively any part of the moon ; 
but there is not a spot on this habitable globe that I could 
affirm you do not claim." These agreeable interviews, 
however, resulted happily for the nation. 

During Monroe's administration the so-called " Amer- 
ican system," which Clay advocated so strongly, became 
a prominent political issue and in the debates over a pro- 
tective tariff and internal improvements, we see the germ 
of a new political party. The South had, at first, favored 
protection because she wished northern mills to take her 
cotton, but now that the English market was open to 
her she was opposed. As for the farmers and shippers 
they said : " We should rejoice to see home manufactures 



234 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1824 

established, provided they grew up naturally and spon- 
taneously, but not by levying an unequal tax to enrich 
the rich by fostering high bounties which favor capital 
at the cost of individual labor." The Protectionists re- 
plied : " A home market is essential to the prosperity of 
a nation like ours. Flooded by excessive imports and 
drained of specie, our trade will drift to ruin. If com- 
merce be favored by Congress, so can manufactures." 
Protection ideas steadily gained and a new bill passed 
Congress in 1824. As for internal improvements the ad- 
vantage was patent to all. The only question was the 
advisability of having the Government instead of the 
states undertake the building of roads and canals. The 
usual cry, " unconstitutional," was raised and Monroe, 
on that ground, vetoed a bill to establish toll-gates on the 
Cumberland road, but at the same time advised an amend- 
ment to the Constitution granting express powers to the 
Government for such undertakings. The liberal construc- 
tionists, however, found ample authority in the Constitu- 
tion, which granted to the general Government the right 
to establish post-roads, to regulate commerce between the 
several States, and to provide for the common defense and 
general welfare of the United States. It was agreed that 
a road passing through several States was for the benefit 
of the general public and should be paid for by the nation. 
For many years internal improvements was a theme for 
political agitation, until the railroad thrust its importance 
aside. The Cumberland Road played an important part 
in politics. This became known as the National Road 
and was built from Cumberland in Maryland to Wheel- 
ing on the Ohio, at a cost of $1,800,000. It averaged 
80 feet in width and was paved with stone covered 
with gravel; strong stone arches supported it over 
streams and ravines and in places it was carried through 



1824] JOHN C. CALHOUN 235 

cuts in the mountains. It was the highway to the great 
West, over which traveled thousands of immigrants seek- 
ing a home in the new Western World and long lines of 
laden vans, bringing to the East the produce of the West. 
Henry Clay eloquently pictured the National Road ad- 
vancing with civilization to the Mississippi, and " still 
westward and whithersoever the white man's face should 
seek the setting sun." 

1824 was the year of the Presidential election, which 
was an unusual campaign. There were no well-defined 
parties contending for supremacy, nor any important 
questions to be determined by the result ; it was a purely 
personal and factional contest and consequently most ig- 
noble. The people rallied to the support not of principles 
but of favorite candidates, the most prominent of these 
being John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, Henry 
Clay, Andrew Jackson and William Harris Crawford. 
Three of these men were members of the Cabinet, 
Adams being Secretary of State, Calhoun Secretary of 
War, and Crawford Secretary of the Treasury. The 
last was a southern man and an ambitious, scheming 
politician. 

Calhoun, South Carolina's greatest son, a graduate of 
Yale, a lawyer by profession, one of the " War-Hawks " 
in the Congress of 1812 and a Cabinet officer, was des- 
tined to be the future leader of a hapless cause, the em- 
bodiment of the pro-slavery idea. Von Hoist thus views 
him : " A man endowed with an intellect far above the 
average, impelled by a high-soaring ambition, untainted 
by any petty or ignoble passion and guided by a charac- 
ter of sterling firmness and more than common purity, 
yet, with fatal illusion, devoting all his mental powers, 
all his moral energy and the whole force of his iron will 
to the service of a doomed and unholy cause." But as 



236 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES MONROE [1824 

yet he had not entered upon that downward course and 
is described as most amiable, with engaging manners and 
an attractive face. 

Jackson was brought forward as the " people's candi- 
date," and his entrance into the Presidential race marks a 
new political departure. 

Any description of the intrigues and political combina- 
tions that marked the course of this canvass would be 
most wearisome. There was great excitement through- 
out the country, but fortunately the arrival of Lafayette 
and his tour through the country silenced for a time the 
contention, while all united to pay sincere reverence and 
affection to the great and good Marquis. 

As the election approached, the candidates and their 
friends were in close communication and new combina- 
tions were eagerly sought. But Adams' honesty pre- 
vented any intriguing on his part. Mr. Morse says of 
him : " Since the days of Washington he alone presented 
the singular spectacle of a candidate deliberately taking 
the position, and in a long campaign really never flinch- 
ing from it, ' that if the people wish me to be President, 
I shall not refuse the office ; but I ask nothing from any 
man, or from any body of men.' " 

When the votes were counted in the Electoral College, 
they stood : Jackson, 99 ; Adams, 84 ; Crawford, 41 ; Clay, 
37 ; 261 in all. Calhoun was elected Vice-President by 
182 votes. 

The Constitution provides that " the person having the 
greatest number of votes for President shall be the Pres- 
ident, if such number be a majority of the whole number 
of Electors appointed." If no candidate has this major- 
ity, the contest is thrown into the House of Representa- 
tives. The three persons having the highest number of 
votes are there balloted for, the ballot to be taken by 



1825] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS ELECTED 237 

States, each State having one vote. The names of Jackson, 
Adams and Crawford therefore went to the House and 
intrigue was stimulated afresh. Clay, no longer a candi- 
date, became a power, for it rested with him to use his 
influence and decide the result. A stroke of paralysis 
had completely disabled Crawford so that the contest nar- 
rowed to Adams and Jackson. Clay did not hesitate. He 
disliked Jackson, had wished him censured for the Flor- 
ida campaign and had spoken against him in plain terms. 
The election was held January 9, 1825, and on the first 
ballot John Ouincy Adams was declared President, hav- 
ing received thirteen votes. Seven votes were cast for 
Jackson and four for Crawford. 

Monroe's administration was one of the most serene, 
dignified and successful in the history of the country and 
was unique, inasmuch as parties had disappeared. All 
were Republicans, or more truly — all were Americans. 



CHAPTER XIV 
PRESIDENCY OF JOHN OUINCY ADAMS 

John Adams and John Quincy Adams, father and son, 
are remarkable figures in the poHtical history of the 
United States. They stand hke huge granite boulders 
on a storm-beaten coast, which no fury of the tempest 
can move from their firm foundations. Statesmen and 
patriots, men of rigid honesty and of unsullied honor, 
they both after long and faithful public service, received 
the highest honor the nation could bestow, only to retire 
bitterly disappointed and humiliated, from administra- 
tions advantageous to their country but full of storm 
and stress. Both stood unshaken to the end amid the 
seething waters of hostile faction. 

John Quincy Adams was the last link that held the 
Government to the Revolutionary past, for as a lad he 
had listened to the guns of Bunker's Hill, and when 
eleven years old had accompanied his father on a diplo- 
matic mission to France. We can judge of what manner 
of child he was by a letter written to his mother upon his 
arrival at Passy : 

" Honored Mamma: My Pappa enjoins it upon me to 
keep a journal, or a diary, of the events that happen to 
me, and of objects that I see, and of characters that I 
converse with from day to day ; and although I am con- 
vinced of the utility, importance and necessity of this 
Exercise, yet I have not patience and perseverance 
enough to do it so constantly as I ought. My Pappa, 

238 



1795] JOHN ADAMS' DIARY 239 

who takes a great deal of pains to put me in the right 
way, has also advised me to Preserve Copies of all my 
letters, and has given me a convenient Blank Book for 
this end ; and although I shall have the mortification a 
few years hence to read a great deal of my Childish non- 
sense, yet I shall have the Pleasure and advantage of 
Remarking the several steps by which I shall have ad- 
vanced in taste, judgment and knowledge. A Journal 
Book and a letter Book of a Lad of Eleven years old 
Can not be expected to Contain much of Science, Litera- 
ture, art, wisdom, or wit, yet it may serve to perpetuate 
many observations that I may make and may hereafter 
help me to recollect both persons and things that would 
other ways escape my memory." It has been truly said 
that this " mature youngster " " had only a little of the 
prig and nothing of the hypocrite in his nature. He was 
the outcome of many generations of simple, devout, in- 
telligent, Puritan ancestors, living in a community which 
loved virtue and sought knowledge." 

This diary was continued irregularly for sixteen years, 
but from that date (1795) it was faithfully kept until the 
end of his life. It is one of the most valuable diaries in 
the world, for in the pages of its many volumes is pic- 
tured every man then prominent in the United States, and 
they are dealt with in the stern, cold spirit of the writer. 
But if Adams was severe with others, he was equally so 
with himself and we learn to know the man from the 
pages of his journal as few men are known to the world. 
He was firm, courageous, honorable, of unswerving po- 
litical honesty and of persistent industry; but, outside 
the home circle, he was cold and reserved of manner, 
lacking in tact and social smoothness. It has been re- 
marked: " Never did a man of pure life and just pur- 
poses have fewer friends or more enemies than John 



240 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [1803 

Quincy Adams . . . He was one of the most lonely and 
desolate of the great men of history." Adams began to 
serve his country in his early youth, for he was but 
fourteen years old when he attended Francis Dana as 
private secretary on his mission as envoy from the United 
States to Russia. 

John Adams having been appointed Minister at the 
Court of St, James, John Quincy decided to return to 
America and enter Harvard College. Thus, after seven 
years of foreign schools and foreign travel, he deliber- 
ately resigned the pleasures of London society, to return 
to the quiet of Cambridge and the restrictions of a col- 
lege life, because he desired to prepare himself " to earn 
his own living in an honorable manner." On graduating 
he studied law, but his political writings attracting at- 
tention, Washington appointed him Minister at The 
Hague. He returned to America when Jefferson be- 
came President, and, in 1803, was appointed to rep- 
resent Massachusetts in the United States Senate. John 
Adams was bitterly hated by his party and his son re- 
ceived a cold reception. He describes in the diary how 
every measure that he proposed was voted down, but 
afterward substantially the same matter, put by another, 
would be carried ; if he wished a measure success, he must 
induce some other to propose it and he remarks : " A 
desperate and fearful cause in which I have embarked, 
but I must pursue it or feel myself either a coward or a 
traitor." The Adamses were good fighters ! Three years 
passed before his sterling qualities and great abilities 
forced respectful attention and gave him the prominence 
he merited. Like his father, he dared to be independent 
of party and when the embargo was laid he voted with 
the Republicans^ for he burned with indignation at Brit- 
ish aggressions and was out of sympathy with the British 



1825] BITTERNESS OF ADAMS' OPPONENTS 241 

drift of Federalism. For this he was abused and despised 
by the FederaHsts, who declared him a traitor to his 
party, as his father had been before him, and in conse- 
quence he lost his seat in the Senate. Adams acted 
honestly and courageously in joining the Republicans 
and the whole country was, in course of time, to follow 
him. Federalism had done a great and noble work, 
but conditions had changed ; a nciu political creed was 
needed. 

Madison, in 1809, appointed John Quincy Adams the 
first minister from the United States to Russia, and it 
was then that the negotiations began, which resulted 
in the Treaty of Ghent. As Monroe's Secretary of 
State he most satisfactorily conducted the affairs of the 
foreign office, and now, as President of the United 
States, we are to read another page of his stormy 
life. 

He was inaugurated March 4, 1825, and at once 
confronted the angry forces of his defeated opponent. 
Those who recall the Hayes-Tilden contested election 
will appreciate the situation. They will recollect that 
during the four years of Hayes' administration, the 
New York Sun never mentioned him except as the 
" fraudulent " President, and the Jackson men now as- 
sumed the same attitude. Their position was unjusti- 
fiable, for the action of Congress was strictly constitu- 
tional. If the framers of the Constitution had intended 
that the candidate having the greatest number of votes 
in the Electoral College must necessarily be chosen, then 
a plurality vote would have decided the question ; there 
would have been no reference to a majority, or the de- 
cision of the House. 

The first act of the new administration was a stu- 
pendous political blunder. Adams appointed, as Secre- 



242 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [1825 

tary of State, Henry Clay, a man eminently fitted for 
the position, but the one whose influence had made him 
President. Neither heeded a previous intimation. Dur- 
ing the campaign an anonymous newspaper letter, since 
known to have been dictated by the Jackson faction, had 
charged Clay with selling his friends in the House of 
Representatives to Mr. Adams " as the planter sells his 
negroes, or the farm'er his team and horses." Clay pub- 
licly declared the writer " a base and infamous calum- 
niator, a dastard and a liar." He demanded an investi- 
gation by the House, but the base author, a fellow Con- 
gressman, refused to appear before the Committee, and 
it was supposed the charge was laid at rest. But a lie 
has astonishing vitality. It has been proved beyond the 
possibility of doubt that there never was the slightest 
truth in this infamous accusation. But the moment Clay 
accepted the portfolio of state, there was a plausible pre- 
text for its revival. One writer remarks : " Never was 
lash put more foolishly into an enemy's hands, or used 
by that enemy with greater effect. The charge of cor- 
rupt bargain had only to be made and repeated to pro- 
duce an overwhelming effect." A strange fatality that 
two men of proved political honesty should have been 
hounded by such a charge. 

The first mutterings of the storm were heard when 
the President's appointments were sent to the Senate. 
Clay's name, though confirmed, received fifteen negative 
votes, and it was evident that the South had combined 
with the Jackson men and that their united forces would 
be able to seriously embarrass the administration. Among 
the names favorably acted upon were Richard Rush for 
Secretary of the Treasury, and for Minister to England 
Rufus King. Ill health, however, soon compelled King 
to resign, and Albert Gallatin became his successor. 



i826] DEATH OF TWO PATRIOTS 243 

During the four years of Adams' administration the 
country advanced rapidly in growth and prosperity. Clay 
proved a progressive Secretary of State, and treaties of 
commerce were concluded with Central America, Prussia, 
Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Brazil, and the Han- 
seatic Republics. The disputed award by Great Britain 
for slaves carried off during the War of 1812 was 
brought to a successful issue and the money paid in 
1827. As Canada was a safe haven for the fleeing slave 
who gained, after a long and perilous flight, its friendly 
shelter. Congress requested the President to open nego- 
tiations with Great Britain regarding the surrender of 
these fugitives. To induce a favorable reply, it was 
proposed that a mutual return be also made of deserters 
from the military, naval and merchant service. It is 
to the lasting honor of England that the British Govern- 
ment promptly replied : " It was utterly impossible for 
them to agree to a stipulation for the surrender of fugi- 
tive slaves." A sorry figure the boasted " land of free- 
dom " presents in this transaction. 

July 4, 1826, was the fiftieth anniversary of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, and the event was celebrated 
throughout the land. On that day died Thomas Jeffer- 
son and, a few hours later, John Adams. This strange 
coincidence, their death upon the same day, and that day 
the golden jubilee of the Declaration, was beautifully 
touched upon by Daniel Webster in his oration delivered 
at the memorial service in Faneuil Hall: "The great 
epic of their lives how happily concluded ! Poetry it- 
self has hardly terminated illustrious lives and finished 
the career of earthly renown by such a consummation. 
It cannot but seem striking and extraordinary that these 
two should live to see the fiftieth year from the date of 
that act; that they should complete that year; and that 



244 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [1826 

then on the day which had fast hnked forever their own 
fame with their country's glory, the heavens should open 
to receive them both at once." 

The orator of this occasion became a power during 
the administration of John Quincy Adams, and for the 
remainder of his life was a tremendous force in national 
politics. Mr. Lodge says of him : " Mr. Webster was 
thoroughly national ... He towers up as an American, 
a citizen of the United States in the fullest sense of the 
word. He did not invent the Union or discover the 
doctrine of nationality. But he found the great fact and 
the great principle ready to his hand, and he lifted them 
up and preached the gospel of nationality throughout 
the length and breadth of the land. In his fidelity to 
this cause he never wavered or faltered. From the 
first burst of boyish oratory to the sleepless nights at 
Marshfield, when, waiting for death, he looked through 
the window at the light which showed him the national 
flag fluttering from its staff, his first thought was of 
a united country. He could hardly speak in public with- 
out an allusion to the grandeur of American nationality, 
and a fervent appeal to keep it sacred and intact. For 
fifty years with reiteration. . .he poured this message 
into the ears of a listening people. His words passed 
into text-books and became the first declamations of 
schoolboys. They were in every one's mouth. They 
sank into the hearts of the people and became uncon- 
sciously a part of their life and daily thought. When 
the hour came, it was love for the Union and the senti- 
ment of nationality which nerved the arm of the North 
and sustained her courage. That love had been fostered 
and that sentiment had been strengthened and vivified 
by the life and words of Webster." 

This great American was born in Salisbury, New 



i826] DANIEL WEBSTER 245 

Hampshire. His father was a farmer and an assistant 
Justice, and for his early, humble home, Daniel Webster 
always cherished a loving reverence. His opportunities 
for education were meagre, and the lad often walked 
three miles over the snowy roads to attend school. When 
fourteen years of age he spent some months at Phillips' 
Academy at Exeter, and afterwards entered Dartmouth 
College. On leaving College, he taught school while 
studying law, like many another of New England's sons. 
Having been admitted to the bar, his great talents soon 
won recognition. He lived for nine years at Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, and represented his State in Congress. 
But notwithstanding his success, he withdrew from polit- 
ical life and returned to his practice, entering upon a 
wider field by removing to Boston. After an absence 
of six years he was returned to Congress as a Rep- 
resentative from that city, and after three years' service 
in the House took his seat in the Senate in 1827. He 
was in politics a broad Federalist, unlike his father, 
whose rigid Federalism led him, when taken ill away 
from home, to beg that he be taken to Salisbury because 
he explained : " I was born a Federalist, I have lived a 
Federalist, and I won't die in a Democratic town." 

In Adams' administration Webster naturally joined 
the National Republicans and became the leader of the 
administration forces in Congress, where his assistance 
was most welcome. Always the amazing force and 
grandeur of Daniel Webster's personal presence awakened 
admiration. An English navvy pointed at him in the 
streets of Liverpool and said : " There goes a king " ; 
and Sidney Smith exclaimed when he saw him : " He 
is a small Cathedral by himself." His eyes were re- 
markable; very dark and deep-set, and glowing with 
light as he became interested in his subject, his voice 



246 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [1827 

full and musical, ringing out like a clarion and again 
sinking into deep notes like the solemn richness of organ 
tones. Lodge says : " He had the most extraordinary 
physical gifts of face, form and voice, and employed them 
to the best advantage. Thus equipped, he delivered a 
long series of great speeches, which can be read to-day 
with the deepest interest, instruction and pleasure . . . 
In the history of eloquence his name will stand with 
those of Demosthenes and Cicero, of Chatham and 
Burke." 

John Quincy Adams, in his first annual message, pro- 
posed a vigorous policy of internal improvements ; not 
only were roads and canals to be built and extended, but 
art, science and education were to receive support and 
encouragement from the national Government. This at 
once aroused opposition and provided an excellent op- 
portunity for the Jackson faction to defeat administration 
measures. By 1827, both Houses of Congress, for the 
first time in the history of the United States, were ar- 
rayed against the administration, and every act favored 
by the executive met bitter opposition. Professor Sum- 
ner writes of Adams' Presidency : " There is not in our 
history any administration which upon a severe and im- 
partial scrutiny appears more worthy of respectful and 
honorable memory. Its chief fault was that it was too 
good for the wicked world in which it found itself." 

Adams made but two removals from the public service, 
both of these for cause, refusing on principle either to 
appoint friends or displace men already in office. A man 
who had urged a different course only to be answered 
by Adams " that he did not intend to make any removals " 
thus describes what followed : " I bowed respectfully 
and assured the President that I had no doubt the con- 
sequence would be that he would himself be removed so 



1829] A BITTER POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 247 

soon as the term for which he had been elected had ex- 
pired." 

No sooner was the President inaugurated than the 
Jackson campaign began. In October, 1825, the legis- 
lature of Tennessee nominated Andrew Jackson for the 
Presidential candidate in 1828. United with the southern 
Republicans, Jackson's followers were now called Dem- 
ocrats, and the Adams and Clay men National Repub- 
licans. Martin Van Buren, Jackson's manager, was a 
trained politician of the Clinton school, for since the 
days of the Confederation, when George Clinton became 
the first great political " boss," New York had had the 
most perfect development of the " machine " in politics. 
Never before had there been, in a national contest, such 
a perfect organization of political machinery, and never 
was so violent and bitter a campaign known. As in the 
previous Presidential campaign, there was no question 
of principles or parties, but simply a personal preference 
for the President of 1829. The Democrats spread the 
charge of bargain and corruption through the length and 
breadth of the land. Shameful slanders were sent abroad 
regarding Adams and Clay, and in retaliation the facts 
of Jackson's irregular marriage, which had been laid 
at rest during thirty years, were dragged forth to fill 
Jackson with fury. Even Congress did little but abuse 
the administration ; John Randolph would come upon 
the floor of the Senate excited by liquor and pour forth 
abusive tirades by the hour, while his theatrical man- 
nerisms amused the galleries, where there was little con- 
cern that the decorum of the Senate was outraged as 
never before ; Calhoun meanwhile sat like a statue in 
the President's chair, not attempting to stop him, for 
the Vice-President had ruled that a member could not 
be called to order by the Chair unless the initiative came 



248 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [1826 

from a member on the floor, and Randolph took advan- 
tage of this license. Clay finally called General Jackson 
to account for statements regarding the " bargain and 
corruption " calumny, and proved beyond doubt the fal- 
sity of the charge. It was in vain, for to quote Carl 
Schurz : " Clay lived to appreciate the wonderful vital- 
ity of a well managed political lie... It defeated his 
dearest ambitions and darkened the rest of his public 
life. It kept him refuting and explaining, explaining 
and refuting, year after year; yet still thousands of 
simple-minded citizens would continue honestly to be- 
lieve that Henry Clay was a great knave, who had de- 
feated the will of the people by bargain and corruption 
and cheated the old hero of New Orleans out of his 
rights." 

During a debate in Congress upon the confirmation 
of Commissioners, whom the President desired to send 
to the Congress of South American States about to meet 
at Panama, Randolph characterized the administration 
as a " combination of the Puritan and the blackleg." 
This allusion to Clay's card-playing threw Clay into 
a rage and he challenged Randolph. It was a bloodless 
duel, but Randolph had a bullet-hole in the skirt of his 
coat. After the exchange of shots, he remarked : " You 
owe me a coat, Mr. Clay," and Clay remarked, as they 
cordially shook hands : " I am glad the debt is no 
greater." And thus happily terminated what Senator 
Benton calls " the highest-toned duel he ever witnessed." 

As the canvass progressed, it was evident that the 
man who secured the largest personal following would 
win. Adams could never be a popular leader; his cold 
self-respect would not permit him to practise any wiles 
by which he might win favor. He did not appeal to 
the popular fancy, but he had a loyal and harmonious 



i828] PARTY PRINCIPLES 249 

Cabinet, and Clay expressed sincere regard for him. 
In Jackson the people beheld '' one of themselves." He 
was proclaimed " the people's candidate," and they liked 
this hot-headed soldier. In the election, Adams carried 
every New England State except one vote of Maine, and 
he received a part of the electoral vote of New York, 
New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, but Jackson car- 
ried Pennsylvania, and south of the Potomac and west 
of the Alleghanies swept everything before him. He re- 
ceived in the Electoral College 178 votes, and Adams 
but 83. Calhoun was again elected Vice-President. It 
was significant that the Jackson movement was strongest 
where there were fewest schools. The shrewd, intelli- 
gent New Englanders, accustomed to discuss affairs of 
Government in town-meetings, were not affected by the 
Jackson campaign cries. 

The parties had now drawn apart and were forming 
on definite lines. The National Republicans favored a 
liberal construction of the Constitution, a protective 
tariff and internal improvements by the general Govern- 
ment. The Democrats were opposed to all of these 
measures. As a state-rights party, they objected to the 
interference of Government, even to the extent of under- 
taking internal improvements, and in the South, their 
interests being strictly agricultural, they were opposed 
to a protective tariff and quick to resent any move against 
slavery. Through the North the Democratic party was 
the party of the masses, and the National Republicans 
represented more nearly the classes. At the head of 
the National Republicans stood Henry Clay, a born 
leader of men, — the " gallant Harry of the West," as 
his followers delighted to call him. He was not only 
a statesman, but an orator of whom it is said : " The 
whole man was a superior being while he spoke ... It 



250 PRESIDENCY OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS [1S29 

was a physical delight to listen to the musical cadence 
of his voice, and one thrilled to the charm of his magnif- 
icent sun-bursts of enthusiasm, his winning persuasive- 
ness." 

John Quincy Adams went out of office, as had his 
father before him, a bitterly disappointed man. He wrote 
in his diary : " The sun of my political life sets in the 
deepest gloom." Could he have lifted the veil that con- 
cealed the future, he would have known, to quote a 
well-known writer, " the most brilliant and glorious 
years of his career were yet to be lived. He was to earn 
in his old age a noble fame and distinction, far transcend- 
ing any achievement of his youth and middle age, and 
was to attain the highest pinnacle of his fame after he 
had left the greatest office of Government ... It is a 
striking circumstance that the fulness of greatness for 
one who had been Senator, Minister to England, Secre- 
tary of State and President, remained to be won in the 
comparatively humble position of a Representative in 
Congress." 



CHAPTER XV 

PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON 

The inauguration of Andrew Jackson began a new 
epoch in the political history of the United States. He 
was the first man taken directly from the people and 
placed in the President's chair, the previous occupants 
having been scholarly and cultivated men, trained in state- 
craft and diplomacy. Jackson was born in North Caro- 
lina, but early became identified with Tennessee. He was 
an orphan-boy, very poor, obtained but little schooling 
and learned the trade of a saddler. He studied law and 
was made District Attorney, but did not practise very 
steadily, as we hear of him as store-keeper and planter. 
His courage and energy won a place for him in the rough 
border settlement of Nashville, and he was a member of 
the legislature that framed a Constitution for the State. 
In 1796, he was sent to the United States Senate ; he was 
then thirty years old. To his disgrace be it said that he 
was one of the twelve men who refused to vote the ad- 
dress to Washington at the close of his administration. 
Remembering the type of government which he himself 
was destined to initiate, the spoils system and the de- 
moralized civil service, we can at least admit consistency 
in his refusing to acknowledge the purity and statesman- 
ship of that administration. One is amazed to hear that 
he became Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, for 
he had a limited knowledge of law and could with diffi- 

251 



2 52 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1829 

culty form an unbiased opinion if he had any personal 
relations with the parties. He began his military service 
in the state militia, and became finally a Major-General 
in the army of the United States. His victory at New 
Orleans made him a national hero, and he well deserved 
his fame, for the trained English army lost two thousand 
men, killed, wounded and missing, and Jackson's raw 
recruits but seven killed and six wounded. At the time 
he came to the Presidency he had recently lost his wife, 
to whom he had been a most devoted husband. He had 
a courtly bearing and a gentle manner with women and 
children. His patriotism, honesty and desire to serve the 
people are unquestioned, but he was a man of intense 
personality, of tremendous energy and of an undisci- 
plined nature. He ruled as an autocrat ; his party was the 
country; they who stood by him were friends of the 
country; those who opposed him were his enemies and 
their country's foes. He could not be impersonal; to 
agree with him was to win his favor ; to oppose him was 
to excite his animosity. He was a warm friend and a 
tremendous foe. It may, perchance, be asked : " Did 
Jackson believe in the charge of ' bribery and corrup- 
tion '?" He probably did; it was quite in keeping with 
his prejudices; Clay had opposed and thwarted him — 
he must necessarily be a very bad man, capable of any 
infamy. Jackson had an iron will and the genius to com- 
mand, for he never hesitated to act and the passionate 
energy of his nature often seemed to compel success. He 
was immensely popular with the masses, who liked his 
rude energy, and they were always ready to shout " Hur- 
rah for Jackson." They came in great numbers to see 
their hero inaugurated, and those who were present have 
left descriptions of the scene. We read of the motley 
rabble running helter-skelter through Pennsylvania Ave- 



1829] SPOIL'S SYSTEM INAUGURATED 253 

nue after the President, in an effort to gain earliest ad- 
mittance to the Executive Mansion, where refreshments 
were to be served ; of china and glass, to the value of sev- 
eral thousand dollars, broken in the struggle to obtain the 
cakes and ices ; of men in muddy boots standing on the 
damask chairs and sofas ; and of tubs of punch carried on 
to the lawn, in an effort to lessen the crowd in the house. 
Judge Story wrote : " The President was visited at the 
Palace " — as the White House was then called — " by 
immense crowds of all sorts of people, from the highest 
and most polished down to the most vulgar and gross in 
the nation. I never saw such a mixture. The reign of 
King Mob seemed triumphant." 

Up to this date (1829) those holding office vmder Gov- 
ernment had not been displaced except for incompetency 
or unfaithfulness. From Washington's taking office to 
Jackson but seventy-five removals had been made, but 
now it was announced that " a sweep was to be made in 
the departments and elsewhere of all who did not belong 
to the household of the faith." We of the present day, 
who are accustomed to this vicious system, can hardly 
appreciate the misery resulting from this political revolu- 
tion. Most pathetic accounts are given of the prevailing 
anxiety and distress among those who had thought them- 
selves secure for life upon the small but certain pay of a 
Government employee, but who now saw ruin before 
them, while those who were not displaced lived in con- 
stant dread of what a day might bring forth. It is esti- 
mated that two thousand changes were made in the civil 
service. Appointments were awarded for party services, 
a number of newspaper editors being thus compensated. 
The Senate refused to confirm many of the appointments, 
several names, from their manifest unfitness, being unan- 
imously rejected. 



254 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON L1829 

Although Jackson first appHed the spoils system to 
national politics, he did not originate it. In the party 
politics of New York and Pennsylvania was found the 
idea, and the party discipline that gave it force. Jackson 
admired the perfection of the Empire State Machine. " I 
am no politician," he would say, " but if I were one, I 
would be a New York politician." During a debate in 
the Senate, Senator Marcy, afterward Governor of New 
York, felt called upon to make the following declaration : 
"The politicians of the State of New York. . .boldly 
preach what they practise. When they are contending for 
victory, they avow their intention of enjoying the fruits 
of it. If they are successful, they claim, as a matter of 
right, the advantages of success. They see nothing wrong 
in the rule that to the victor belongs the spoils of the 
enemy." It was an evil day for the nation when a mem- 
ber of the United States Senate proclaimed that the ad- 
vantages to the party and the politician were to take 
precedence of the welfare and prosperity of the people 
and the highest good of the country. The nation had 
drifted a long way from the policy of its great moral 
leader — Washington. 

Jackson appointed Martin Van Buren Secretary of 
State and John H. Eaton, a Senator from Tennessee, 
Secretary of War. The other members of the Cabinet 
were men of moderate ability. It has become customary 
for the President to consider his Cabinet as necessary 
counselors, but this is not obligatory. There is nothing 
in the Constitution that renders them other than heads 
of departments. Jackson chose to consider them more 
nearly in that position, but gathered about him four trusty 
friends as confidential advisers. These soon became 
Jcnown as the " Kitchen Cabinet." One of these men was 
Francis P. Blair, editor of the Globe, a bold and clever 



1829] A SOCIAL QUESTION 255 

politician, who made his newspaper a tremendous power ; 
but the most noted was Amos Kendall, whose silent in- 
fluence was recognized by all, but who rarely became 
visible, choosing to be a mysterious force, the power be- 
nihd the throne. Jackson's official Cabinet was finally 
wrecked by a social question : " Shall we call upon Mrs. 
Eaton?" 

The wife of John H. Eaton, Secretary of War, was 
the very beautiful daughter of William O'Neil, the pro- 
prietor of O'Neil's Inn, at Washington. This well-known 
hostelry was the resort of the famous men of the day, 
and " pretty Peggy O'Neil " had been a favorite toast 
with them. She married a naval officer named Timber- 
lake, who committed suicide while on a cruise in the 
Mediterranean, and it was whispered that reports con- 
cerning his wife prompted the deed. To add to the gos- 
sip, within a year the widow married Senator Eaton, with 
whom her name had been scandalously associated. By 
her husband's position she was now introduced into the 
most exclusive circles, but Mrs. Calhoun refused to rec- 
ognize her, and the ladies of the Cabinet circle followed 
suit. Here was a delicate situation, which Jackson at- 
tempted to deal with in his usual manner. He had known 
and admired Mrs. Eaton from her girlhood, and he felt a 
peculiar sympathy for any woman whose reputation was 
assailed, for he had fought duels in defense of that of his 
own wife. He endeavored to force society to receive 
Mrs. Eaton and was furious at his failure. He even 
threatened to send the Dutch Minister out of the country 
because his wife refused to sit beside Mrs. Eaton at a 
supper. Calhoun approved of his wife's course, and the 
married Cabinet officers each informed Jackson " that 
he left such matters to his wife and could not undertake 
to overrule her judgment." Jackson stormed and the 



256 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1829 

question was debated throughout the country and had 
strange poHtical results, for it ultimately broke up the 
Cabinet. Eaton was made Governor of Florida and after- 
ward Minister to Spain, and Van Buren was nominated as 
Minister to England, but defeated by Calhoun's vote, there 
being a tie in the Senate. Both Van Buren and Calhoun 
ardently desired the Presidency, and Calhoun appeared to 
lead in the race, but the Eaton affair changed the result. 
Van Buren was a widower and being thus free, ingrati- 
ated himself in Jackson's good-will by polite attentions 
to Mrs. Eaton, whereas Calhoun excited his resentment. 
This was taken advantage of by the " Kitchen Cabinet," 
who showed to Jackson a letter, written by William Har- 
ris Crawford, which divulged a secret calculated to en- 
rage Jackson, for it revealed the fact that Calhoun, while 
a member of Monroe's Cabinet, had desired to have Jack- 
son reprimanded for disobedience to orders in the Florida 
campaign. Crawford's treachery succeeded ; Jackson was 
thrown into a towering passion by this revelation. He 
demanded an explanation, to which Calhoun replied that 
" it was an affair of mere official duty involving no ques- 
tion of private enmity or friendship." But with Jackson 
those who were not for him were against him. Calhoun, 
a bitterly disappointed man, saw the coveted prize 
snatched from his grasp and given to another, for it was 
evident that when Jackson was ready to vacate the Presi- 
dential chair, his all-powerful influence would be exerted 
to make Van Buren his successor. Many writers assert 
that disappointed ambition accounts for Calhoun's future 
course, believing that had he attained the Presidency he 
would never have been known as the " great Nullifier," 
but with this opinion Von Hoist disagrees. 

In 1828, during John Ouincy Adams' administration, 
a tariff bill had been passed, which arose from the agita- 



1829] AN UNPOPULAR TARIFF 257 

tion of the New England woolen manufacturers. There 
was a wild scramble among diverse industries all over the 
country to gain the highest possible protection. The 
southern members had voted for many clauses in the bill, 
hoping to defeat the measure by making it obnoxious. 
But it passed and became known as " the tariff of abomi- 
nations." It was extremely unpopular in the South, espe- 
cially in South Carolina, Calhoun's state. This discontent 
was made more serious by the strong state-rights feeling 
of that section, and nullification began to be preached as 
a sound political doctrine. Calhoun in several communi- 
cations published his views upon the subject. He claimed 
that the sovereignty of the States is the essential principle 
of the Union ; that the States have a right to interpose 
when the Federal Government usurps authority over 
them, because, as parties to the compact, they have the 
right to determine for themselves whether it has been 
violated ; and, as a final conclusion, each State has a right 
to declare null and void a Federal law which it deems un- 
constitutional. All this was a step to the secession plat- 
form. Setting aside all consideration of the practical 
workings of this scheme of systematized anarchy, a brief 
glance at the principles involved will show them so easily 
refuted that the blindness of the men who upheld them 
seems remarkable, unless the baleful influence of slavery 
is recognized. The North and South had now become 
divided on a line of free and slave States, and the latter 
needed every argument, however specious, in defense of 
an unholy institution. 

In the Constitutional Convention it had been decided, 
by a majority vote, that a Government should be estab- 
lished consisting of a supreme legislative, executive and 
judiciary. The word " supreme " was explained to mean 
the sovereign power of the national Government. If the 



258 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1829 

powers of a State clashed with the authority of the Gov- 
ernment, the State must give way. The Constitution re- 
affirmed this decision, declaring itself and the laws made 
in pursuance thereof the supreme law of the land. The 
national government was not established by the States 
and cannot be set aside by the States ; it is a Government 
of the people, for the people, and established by the people. 
The preamble to the Constitution reads : " We, the people 
of the United States ... do ordain and establish this Con- 
stitution for the United States of America," and the Con- 
stitution was ratified, not by the States acting through 
their State Governments, but by Conventions of delegates, 
elected directly by the people ; the reason for this is ex- 
plained in the Federalist, which says : " The Fabric of 
American Empire ought to rest on the solid basis of The 
Consent of the People." 

In order that no combination of men should rule un- 
lawfully, the Constitution established the Supreme Court, 
with power to set aside the acts of the legislative and 
executive branches of the Government, if such acts are 
in violation of the Constitution. The Constitutional laws 
of the Government must be upheld by the people, or else 
they must arise in rebellion and overthrow the Govern- 
ment they have created. As for the right of secession 
Madison had answered that question when, in the New 
York Convention, during the struggle over the adoption 
of the Constitution, that State had proposed to join con- 
ditionally, withdrawing afterward, if she saw fit. " No," 
said Madison ; " a State which had once ratified was in 
the Federal bond forever. The Constitution did not pro- 
vide for or contemplate its own overthrow. There could 
be no such thing as a Constitutional right of secession." 
Motley, the great .historian, writes: " The Constitution of 
the United States was an organic law, enacted by the 



1829] SUPREMACY OF THE GOVERNMENT 259 

sovereign people of the whole United States. It was em- 
powered to act directly by its own legislative, judicial and 
executive machinery, upon every individual in the coun- 
try. It could seize his property, or take his life, for causes 
of which itself was the judge. The States were distinctly 
prohibited from opposing its decrees, or from exercising 
any of the great functions of sovereignty. The Union 
alone was superior, anything in the Constitution and laws 
of the States to the contrary notwithstanding. It was not 
a compact ; the States are only mentioned to receive com- 
mands or prohibitions, and the people of the United 
States is the single party by whom alone the instrument 
is executed . . . The Constitution was not drawn up by 
the States ; it was not promulgated in the name of the 
States, it was not ratified by the States. The States never 
acceded to it and possess no power to secede from it. It 
was ordained and established over the States by a power 
superior to the States ; by the people of the whole land, 
in their aggregate capacity, acting through Conventions 
of delegates expressly chosen for the purpose within each 
State, independently of the State Governments, after the 
project had been framed." 

As to the sovereignty of the States, the following is a 
brief summary of an opinion by Judge Story, of the 
Supreme Court : " The States, before the Revolution, 
were not sovereign States, as they were all subjected to 
the British Crown. They were all dependencies of Great 
Britain. They never severally proclaimed their independ- 
ence, for the Declaration of Independence was the united 
act of all the colonies in Congress assembled, and this 
Congress was appointed by the people of all the colonies. 
It was not an act of State Governments, but emphatically 
the act of the whole people of the United States. The 
several States are not even mentioned in the Declaration ; 



26o PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1830 

it was a national act; and the colonies formed a national 
Government as soon as Congress assumed powers and 
passed measures, in their nature national, and the people 
from zuhose consent they took effect must be considered 
as agreeing to form a nation. The individual sovereignty 
of the States was never thought of by the enlightened 
band of patriots who framed the Declaration." This was 
a most important question, for " state rights " and " sla- 
very " were the exciting causes of the civil war, and the 
result of that contest ended both the theory and the in- 
stitution. 

Calhoun and the South Carolina leaders determined to 
bring forward nullification in the Senate, in order to test 
public opinion, but the matter came about in an unex- 
pected manner. Senator Foote, of Connecticut, intro- 
duced a harmless inquiry regarding the sale of public 
lands in the West. In the debate that followed, Hayne, 
a brilliant Senator from South Carolina, made a bitter 
attack upon the New England States, accusing them of 
a desire to check the growth of the West, and he urged 
the West to unite with the South in opposition to the 
policy of protection. Webster replied to this, showing 
how groundless was such a statement. Hayne, though 
worsted in the argument, returned to the attack, and in 
another long speech dealt even more severely with New 
England, and Massachusetts in particular ; and then made 
a full statement of the doctrine of nullification and of the 
views and principles entertained by Calhoun and his fol- 
lowers. The next day, January 26, 1830, with only a 
night for preparation, Daniel Webster arose to reply. This 
speech is familiarly known as " The Reply to Hayne." 
It was the greatest effort of Webster's life, and held spell- 
bound the vast audience that packed the Senate Chamber 
and listened to that marvelous voice. He closed with 



1830] "THE REPLY TO HAYNE" 261 

these glorious words, spoken from a heart that had been 
deeply stirred by the disloyalty expressed by Hayne : 
" When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last 
time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the 
broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious 
Union ; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent ; on 
a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in 
fraternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering glance 
rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now 
known and honored through all the earth, still full high 
advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their orig- 
inal lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, not a single 
star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable 
interrogatory as ' What is all this worth ? ' nor those other 
words of delusion and folly, * Liberty first and Union 
afterwards ! ' but everywhere, spread all over in charac- 
ters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they 
float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind 
under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to 
every true American heart, — ' Liberty and Union, now 
and forever, one and inseparable ! ' " 

The nullification party received no encouragement 
from Andrew Jackson who, at a banquet given on his 
birthday, proposed the toast, " Our Federal Union. It 
must be preserved." And this declaration he continued 
to maintain. The tariff of abominations was the osten- 
sible cause of nullification. The South undoubtedly had 
a grievance ; protection did not benefit their agricultural 
interests, and yet, as all articles were advanced in price 
by the tariff, they were taxed equally with the manufac- 
turing States. 

The President desired a modification of the tariff. The 
nullification sentiment in South Carolina was alarming, 
and Congress in response passed a new tariff bill in July, 



262 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [^832 

1832, which reduced and abolished certain taxes, but did 
not materially alter protective duties ; but that is not sur- 
prising, for Clay declared, " To preserve, maintain and 
strengthen the 'American system ' I would defy the 
South, the President and the Devil." But, in Novem- 
ber, South Carolina altered the whole issue and lost the 
sympathy of every loyal American, North and South, 
by passing an ordinance, in a convention called for the 
purpose, which declared the tariff bills of 1828 and 1832, 
passed by the Congress of the United States, null and 
void in South Carolina. A declaration was also adopted 
that the State would secede, should the Federal Govern- 
ment attempt to enforce the laws in opposition to her 
decision. Preparations were taken to carry out the ordi- 
nance and resist Federal authority, and it was voted 
that nullification should take effect February i, 1833. 
There was, however, a strong Union feeling existing in 
the State, and a meeting was held at Charleston, at which 
resolutions were passed to support the Federal Govern- 
ment. The President acted promptly; he ordered two 
war vessels to Charleston, sent General Scott to take 
command of the troops, and issued a proclamation to the 
people of South Carolina, in which he said : " I consider 
the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed 
by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, 
contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, 
unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every prin- 
ciple on which it was founded, and destructive of the 
great object for which it was formed." This voiced the 
sentiment of the whole country, and the nation heartily 
applauded the President's course. Calhoun now resigned 
the Vice-Presidency, but immediately took his seat as a 
Senator. Congress did not lack great men, with Webster, 
Clay and Thomas H. Benton in the Senate, and in the 



1834] COMPROMISE TARIFF BILL 263 

House John Quincy Adams, Rufus Choate and Edward 
Everett. 

Calhoun had now cut adrift from party, though usually 
ready to unite in opposition to Jackson. He was ever 
after to be dominated by the ideas of nullification and 
slavery. As he possessed a fine intellect, pure morals, 
courteous manners and a singular charm and fascination, 
he was destined to become the teacher and political guide 
of the young men of the South and to fire them with 
enthusiasm for his cause. 

The situation was now critical, and Gulian C. Ver- 
planck of New York introduced in the House a new tariff 
bill. It provided that after 1834 all duties should be 
lowered to fifteen or twenty per cent. This was de- 
nounced as unjust to those who had invested all their 
capital in manufacturing and a cowardly surrender to a 
belligerent State. After a heated debate, Clay came to the 
rescue, and introduced a Compromise Bill in the Senate, 
and in February, 1833, the House, as by the Constitution 
all revenue bills must originate with them, struck out all 
of the Verplanck Bill but the enacting clause, and sub- 
stituted Clay's bill for the discarded provisions. This 
passed the next day and was sent to the Senate, where it 
was passed March ist. Clay's compromise provided that 
all duties over twenty per cent should be reduced by one- 
tenth of this excess after September, 1833 ; and by an- 
other tenth every second year thereafter, until September 
30, 1841 ; then one-half the remaining excess should be 
taken off; and in 1842 the remainder, which would leave 
a general rate of twenty per cent on dutiable goods. 
Calhoun and his friends had to vote for this bill, in order 
to carry it through, for northern Senators were not par- 
ticularly pleased with the compromise and threatened to 
defeat it. Clayton said : " If they cannot vote for a bill 



264 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [18^9 

to save their necks from the halter, their necks may 
stretch " ; alluding to Jackson's threat to try Calhoun 
for treason and hang him high as Haman. Calhoun 
claimed that the bill was a free-trade victory v^on by 
nullification, and South Carolina acepted the olive branch 
extended to her and on March nth repealed the nullifica- 
tion ordinance. The fire was thus smothered, but there 
was life in the embers, afterwards to set the country in a 
blaze. Clay defended his Compromise Bill by declaring 
that he pitied the peril of South Carolina and dreaded 
the horror of Civil War. But, in truth, he made a des- 
perate effort to save his pet " system," which he saw was 
in danger of being overthrown, had he not compromised. 
We must now consider General Jackson's course in 
relation to the United States Bank. In his first annual 
message the President startled the country by intimat- 
ing his distrust of that institution. At that time, 1829, 
the bank was firmly established and intimately connected 
with the finances of the country. Its principal office 
was in Philadelphia, and it had twenty-five branches in 
different States. Its assets were over $100,600,000, and 
its issued notes amounted to nearly $27,600,000, and cir- 
culated at par with gold throughout the land, while its 
stock sold at 125, and its average dividends paid between 
six and seven per cent. This powerful and well-managed 
institution was under the presidency of Nicholas Biddle. 
Though alarmed by the message, the business men of 
the country remembered that the Bank's charter had yet 
six years to run, and no immediate danger was contem- 
plated. But intrigue was busy, and a quiet attack was 
made upon the New Hampshire branch by a letter sent 
to Ingham, Secretary of the Treasury, in which charges 
were made and insinuations to the effect that Webster 
had obtained the appointment of the President of that 



1831] UNITED STATES BANK 265 

Bank. Mr. Biddle easily refuted these statements, and 
in a letter to Ingham asserted : " It is the settled policy 
of the institution, pursued with the most fastidious care, 
to devote itself exclusively to the purposes for which it 
was institHted; to abstain from all political contests; to 
be simply and absolutely a hank, seeking only the interests 
of the community and the judicious employment of the 
funds entrusted to its management, and never for a 
moment perverting its power to any local or party pur- 
poses." Later, after an "investigation of its affairs by 
a Committee of Congress, John Quincy Adams declared 
on the floor of the House that the Bank had been con- 
ducted with as near an approach to perfect wisdom as 
the imperfection of human nature permitted. Then why 
did Jackson and his followers attempt to destroy this 
institution? Among the many opinions advanced, the 
two following seem the most plausible and, when com- 
bined, probably answer the question. Ingham wrote to 
Mr. Biddle that the Bank could not be kept out of pol- 
itics, and hence its officers should be taken from both 
parties. In replying, Mr. Biddle said : " I deem it my 
duty to state to you, in a manner perfectly respectful to 
your official and personal character, yet so clear as to 
leave no possibility of misconception, that the Board of 
Directors of the Bank of the United States and the Board 
of Directors of the branches of the Bank of the United 
States acknowledge not the slightest responsibility of any 
description whatsoever to the Secretary of the Treasury 
touching the political opinions and conduct of their of- 
ficers " ; and he stated further : " The Bank is respon- 
sible to Congress only, and is carefully shielded by its 
charter from executive control." Schouler remarks : 
" Knowing Jackson's temper, we can imagine him at 
once flaming up and swearing ' By the Eternal/ his 



266 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1832 

favorite expletive, that he would take the strut out of 
this Biddle, and show him whether the executive had 
not an arm long and strong enough to shiver his Bank 
into splinters." Sargent says : " That a control, for 
party purposes, was attempted to be exercised over the 
operations of the Bank of the United States by certain 
prominent members of the Jackson party... no one can 
doubt. Had they succeeded in obtaining the control 
sought for, and in making a political engine of the Bank, 
favorable to the administration, does any one suppose 
that its re-charter would have been resisted by . . . the 
kitchen Cabinet, or that we should ever have heard of 
' The Bank Veto Message ' ? In that case, the institu- 
tion would have been an instrument of monstrous pol- 
itical power in their hands. Baffled as they were in 
their purpose, it was quite natural that they should seek 
to destroy that which they could not control." But these 
motives could not be declared to the nation, so they 
raised the cry of " monopoly," of " a powerful financial 
institution dangerous to the liberties of the people." The 
outcry against the moneyed class can always be counted 
upon to arouse the people. To-day is heard the same 
political slogan. 

Clay had again been nominated for the Presidency by 
the National Republicans, and Jackson by the Democrats 
for a second term. The Republicans favored the Bank, 
as did many Democrats. Clay thought it a wise polit- 
ical move to make re-charter a campaign issue, and force 
at once the President's hand ; so the Bank was urged to 
petition for a renewal of its charter, which it did by a 
memorial to the Senate, presented January 9, 1832. 
What has been termed " mob warfare " now began. 
Benton led the opposition, and in his well-known book 
he describes his methods : " Seeing that there was a 



1832] ANTI-MASONIC PARTY 267 

majority in each House for the institution, and not in- 
tending to lose time in arguing for it, our course of action 
became obvious, which was to attack incessantly, assail 
at all points, display the evil of the institution, rouse 
the people and prepare them to sustain the veto. We 
determined to have a contest in both Houses, and to 
force the Bank into defenses which would engage it 
in a general combat and lay it open to side-blows as 
well as direct attacks." These tactics were ultimately 
successful, for at last the Bank, fighting for its life, 
had to oppose its enemies with their own weapons 
and sink from its once honorable position into the strife 
of party intrigue. But it had not yet fallen upon these 
evil days. 

The bill for a renewal of its charter having passed 
both Houses was sent to the President July 4, 1832. 
On July loth, Jackson returned the bill with his veto. 
Congress adjourned on the i6th, and the question was 
carried to the country. A heated campaign followed. 
A new element entered into this canvass — the Anti- 
Masonic party, which had a peculiar origin. In 1826, 
William Morgan, a poor brick-layer, of Batavia, New 
York State, undertook to publish a book setting forth 
the secrets of the Masonic order. This created great 
excitement among the Freemasons, who succeeded in 
effecting the arrest of Morgan and in setting fire to the 
printing-office where the book was supposed to be in 
press. When Morgan was released from arrest, he was 
kidnapped and spirited away. He was never seen again, 
and it was claimed that he had been murdered : dropped 
from a boat into the Niagara River with a cannon-ball 
attached to his feet. This the Freemasons denied, but 
great excitement was created and all secret societies 
shared in the public condemnation. An Anti-Masonic 



2 68 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [iZz?. 

party was the outcome, and by 1832 it was strong enough 
to receive attention from the politicians. The Anti- 
Masons were opposed to the Jackson administration and 
nominated, from their own ranks, a candidate for the 
Presidency. They are to-day remembered for several 
innovations they introduced into political procedure. 
They were the first to frame a party platform of national 
principles, and the first to nominate a candidate for the 
Presidency at a national convention, it having been the 
custom before that time to nominate Presidential can- 
didates by a party caucus in Congress, by state legis- 
latures or by special local conventions. The Anti- 
Masons drew many votes that otherwise would have 
gone to the National Republicans, and the thoroughly 
organized Democratic party elected their popular hero 
by a large majority, Jackson receiving 219 votes in the 
Electoral College, while Clay had but 49. Van Buren 
was elected Vice-President. Jackson's well-known par- 
tiality for the " little magician " as Van Buren was called, 
in compliment to his political skill, occasioned many 
campaign caricatures. One represented Jackson as an 
old granny, fondling the little pet seated in his lap, and 
feeding him with a pap-spoon. 

Jackson began his second term more determined than 
ever to compass the destruction of the United States 
Bank and of " Emperor Nicholas," or " Old Nick " — 
either was a favorite Democratic term for Mr. Biddle. 
The President decided on a bold move, — an autocratic 
use of power, more in the style of Napoleon than in 
the presumed attitude of the constitutional ruler of a 
people amply protected by law. He determined upon 
the removal of the United States deposits from the 
United States Bank and upon placing them in state 
banks throughout the country, acting in opposition to 



1833] REMOVAL OF THE U. S. BANK DEPOSITS 269 

the opinion of his cabinet (Duane, Secretary of the 
Treasury, refusing to comply, was dismissed), to the 
majority in both Houses of Congress, and to a vast 
number of Democrats throughout the country. " Be- 
cause," as he said in defense, " I have no confidence in 
Congress. If the Bank is permitted to have the pubHc 
money, there is no power that can prevent it from ob- 
taining a charter; it will have it if it has to buy up all 
Congress, and the public funds would enable it to do so." 
And this insult was offered to a Congress which included 
John Quincy Adams, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, 
Everett, Choate, Binney, Corwin, Wright, Preston, Clay- 
ton, Ewing, and five future presidents of the United 
States — Tyler, Polk, Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan. 
In compliance with Jackson's order no public money was 
deposited in the United States Bank after October i, 
1833. As nearly ten million dollars of Government 
funds were held by the Bank, that sum was drawn out 
by drafts as rapidly as required to meet current demands. 
Under this staggering blow the Bank stood firm, but 
protested to Congress that the action of the executive 
was a breach of trust. A bitter contest followed in 
Congress, and Clay finally succeeded in passing in the 
Senate a vote of censure upon the President's course, 
which naturally infuriated Jackson. There was much 
alarm throughout the country, and something of a panic ; 
that it was no worse was owing to the existing confidence 
in the stabihty of the Bank. Meetings were held in the 
large cities, and mammoth petitions were sent to Con- 
gress, begging that the public funds be replaced where 
they belonged, and delegations waited upon the Presi- 
dent to make a similar request. These interviews with 
Jackson were stormy. The visitors were angrily told : 
" Go to the monster, go to Nick Biddle. He has all the 



270 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1835 

money; he has millions of specie in his vaults lying 
idle ; he is trying to crush the state banks and make me 
change my policy." And he would declare : *' Sooner 
than restore the deposits to that monster of corruption, 
I would undergo the tortures of ten Spanish Inquisi- 
tions." There is no doubt of the sincerity of this wrong- 
headed, fiery, but honest old man, he really believed 
that he was defending the people from a dangerous in- 
stitution. His conduct, however, lost him much of his 
popularity throughout the country. In New York car- 
icature medals were struck off and freely circulated, 
which were inscribed : "I will take the responsibility," 
and showed the President sitting inside of a fence, 
adorned with epaulettes and asses' ears, and grasping 
bags of gold. 

The Bank of the United States and its unfortunate 
president had a disastrous future. When its charter ex- 
pired in 1836 it obtained by corrupt legislation a state 
charter from the legislature of Pennsylvania, and started 
on an unfortunate career. It failed three times; first in 
the great panic of 1837 and for the last time in 1841, 
when its ruin was complete. Mr. Biddle had, two years 
previously, resigned the Presidency, but he had been so 
intimately connected with the institution that its ruin was 
attributed to him. He was tried on the charge of con- 
spiring to plunder stockholders, was released on a techni- 
cality, and died at fifty-eight, insolvent and broken- 
hearted. 

But to return to Jackson's administration and the finan- 
cial condition of the country. The more imminent danger 
was from inflation instead of panic. The country was 
remarkably prosperous and 1835 saw the nation abso- 
lutely free from debt, while a big surplus was accumu- 
lating from tariff duties. Then followed a mania for 



1830] WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON 271 

speculation and for new enterprises of every description. 
Banks were recklessly chartered and each strove for the 
privilege of being one of the " pet banks," as those receiv- 
ing United States deposits were termed, in an effort to 
obtain a portion of that golden stream flowing from the 
national Treasury. There were heated discussions in 
Congress over the disposal of the surplus. It was finally 
decided to divide it between the States, but in order to 
avoid any Constitutional objections to this plan, the 
money was deposited with the States without interest, but 
it was a deposit or loan understood to be perpetual. 

During Jackson's administration the Republicans, find- 
ing it impossible to carry through internal improvements, 
abandoned that part of the " American system " and the 
National or Cumberland Road was presented to the States 
through which it passed. 

We are now to consider a movement of such far-reach- 
ing importance and of such tremendous results that for 
thirty years to come it underlies the whole political his- 
tory of the United States ; it is the motif of the great 
drama about to be enacted, and terminates in the great- 
est civil war in all history. It began in the Abolition Cru- 
sade, led by William Lloyd Garrison, which suddenly 
sprung into vivid life at the North. 

Garrison was born in poverty at Newburyport, Massa- 
chusetts. He learned the trade of a printer and while 
working on an anti-slavery newspaper at Baltimore was 
fined and imprisoned for declaring the domestic slave 
trade as bad as the foreign and denouncing the slave deal- 
ers as robbers and murderers. Determined to be heard, 
he went to Boston, and there in an obscure office set up 
his press and when only twenty-five years old issued the 
first copy of the Liberator on January i, 1830. He was 
very poor, set the type for the paper himself, lived on 



272 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1831 

simple fare and made his bed upon the workroom floor. 
The mission of the Liberator was announced on the first 
page. Speaking of the frozen apathy of the North re- 
garding slavery, Garrison there declared : " I deter- 
mined, at every hazard, to lift up the standard of emanci- 
pation in the eyes of the nation, within sight of Bunker 
Hill and in the birthplace of liberty. I shall strenuously 
contend for the enfranchisement of our slave popula- 
tion . . . Urge me not to use moderation in a cause like 
the present. I am in earnest. I will not equivocate. I 
will not excuse. I will not retreat a single inch, and 
/ zvill be heard! " The movement differed from previous 
anti-slavery efforts, inasmuch as it was violently aggres- 
sive. " Emancipate at once ! " " No Union with slave- 
holders ! " Truly, a bold doctrine, as those who adopted 
it soon discovered, for they were everywhere persecuted 
at the North, while at the South any person who circu- 
lated the Liberator was subject to heavy penalties, and 
the State of Georgia offered a reward of $5,000 for the 
arrest of Garrison ; which was either an empty threat, or 
a premium to the kidnapper. 

The Liberator proclaimed the Federal Constitution " a 
covenant with death and an agreement with Hell," and 
for years prominent abolitionists refused to vote, declin- 
ing to take any part in a slave-holding Government. All 
this was very fanatical, but these men and women who, 
for their devotion to the cause of human freedom, were 
insulted and despised of men and their very lives endan- 
gered, kindled the whole North into a flame that lighted 
the watchfires of liberty and made America free in truth 
as in name. 

In 1 83 1 there was a negro uprising in Virginia, which 
was speedily stamped out, but which alarmed the whole 
South, and the slave-owners accused Garrison of en- 



i835] WENDELL PHILLIPS 273 

deavoring to incite a servile insurrection. This was un- 
true, for Garrison did not believe in forcible resistance; 
he desired to force the conscience of men, not to incite a 
slave insurrection. But we can hardly blame the slave- 
owner if he failed to realize this distinction. Proselyting 
at the North continued and abolitionism became more and 
more obnoxious, for merchants and manufacturers feared 
that the agitation would affect their important business 
interests with the South; good society would have noth- 
ing to do with the fanatics ; and the churches were luke- 
warm. Nevertheless, some of the most noble and truly 
cultured men and women of America were found in the 
ranks of the Abolitionists. As the Liberator could not 
be suppressed, nor anti-slavery meetings prohibited by 
law, for a free press and free speech are constitutional 
rights, resort was had to violence. Mobs broke up aboli- 
tion meetings and the speakers in several instances nearly 
paid with their lives for exercising the right of free men 
to free speech. On one occasion, Garrison was rescued 
by the Mayor and police from the hands of the mob who 
were dragging him through the streets of Boston. That 
scene made Wendell Phillips an Abolitionist. Wealthy, 
cultured, of the highest social position, from the hour 
when he watched, with burning indignation, William 
Lloyd Garrison, pale, covered with mud, a rope around 
his waist, dragged by a hooting mob through the city 
streets, until the Emancipation Proclamation proclaimed 
the freedom of the negro, Wendell Phillips devoted his life, 
his fortune and his silver tongue to the abolition cause. 

A gentleman who visited the Liberator office gives 
his impression of the editor : " I saw a pine desk in the 
far corner, at which a pale, delicate and apparently over- 
tasked gentleman was sitting. . . I never was more as- 
tonished. All my preconceptions were at fault. My ideal 



274 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1835 

of the man was that of a stout, rugged, dark-visaged des- 
perado, — something hke a picture of a pirate. He was 
a quiet, gentle, and I might say, a handsome man, — a 
gentleman, indeed, in every sense of the word." Letters 
in which Garrison speaks of his wife furnish a glimpse of 
this gentleness of nature. In one he writes : " By her 
unwearied attentions to my wants, her sympathetic re- 
gards, her perfect equanimity of mind, and her sweet and 
endearing manners, she is no trifling support to aboli- 
tionism, inasmuch as she lightens my labors and enables 
me to find exquisite delight in the family circles, as an 
offset to public adversity." These very tender words 
are in striking contrast to his fiery utterances in the 
Liberator, where he dealt fierce blows and gave no quar- 
ter. He writes of a meeting to be held in Faneuil Hall 
(August, 1835) : " The old cradle of liberty, it seems, is 
to be desecrated by a meeting of the friends of slavery 
and slave-holders ! Better that the lightning of Heaven 
should smite and devour the building; better that the 
winds should scatter it in fragments over the whole earth ; 
better that an earthquake should engulf it than that it 
should be used for so unhallowed and detestable a pur- 
pose ! Is the spirit of Seventy-Six cowering beneath the 
whip of the slave-driver ? Has Bunker Hill no voice for 
a crisis like this? What! is Faneuil Hall to ring with 
curses upon the heads of those who plead for liberty and 
equal rights, — for the emancipation of millions of en- 
slaved American citizens ? O, horrible prostitution ! O, 
base subserviency to tyrants ! O, damnable stain upon its 
fair fame throughout all time ! . . . No fiction, no sophis- 
try can hide the fact . . . that the contemplated meeting is 
a meeting to take sides with the slave-holder and against 
his victim ; to palliate and countenance a bloody despotism 
and to plant a dagger in the bosom of Liberty ! " 



1836] "THE RIGHT OF PETITION" 275 

It is not strange that the excitement aroused by this 
fiery crusade spread throughout the land and echoed in 
the halls of Congress, where John Quincy Adams, who 
had always abhorred slavery, was to become the champion 
of the anti-slavery cause in the national legislature. His 
first act was to present fifteen petitions, signed by many 
citizens of Pennsylvania, praying for the abolition of 
slavery in the District of Columbia, which place being 
entirely under the control of the Government of the 
United States rendered it possible for the national Gov- 
ernment to set an example of emancipation to the States. 

Mr. Adams was not an agitator; he was a statesman 
who did his duty without fear and he was perfectly 
equipped for the task before him by training, ability, 
knowledge, prestige and authority, by persistence and 
courage and a merciless power of invective. It has been 
said : " He was probably the most formidable fighter 
in debate, of whom Parliamentary records preserve the 
memory. The hostility he encountered beggars descrip- 
tion; the English language was deficient in adequate 
words of virulence and contempt to express the feelings 
which were entertained towards him. . . Nevertheless, 
the people of the Plymouth district sent him back every 
two years to Congress until his death." 

It is advisable to continue the account of Mr. Adams 
until the dramatic close of his honorable life, although it 
extends some years beyond Jackson's administration ; but 
by so doing is gained a fuller realization of his great 
work. He continued to present the petitions of northern 
men and women, praying for the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia. These were necessarily very 
disagreeable to southern members and in 1836 Congress 
determined to prevent their presentation. A resolution 
was offered to the effect that all agitation of the subject 



276 PRESIDENCY OP ANDREW JACKSON [1836 

was disquieting- and objectionable and " therefore, all pe- 
titions, memorials, resolutions, or papers relating to the 
subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, shall, with- 
out being either printed or referred, be laid upon the 
table, and that no further action whatever shall be had 
thereon." Mr. Adams addressed the House, and amid 
shouts of " Order," finished what he had to say : " I 
hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, the rules of this House, and 
the rights of my constituents." But it was carried by a 
vote of 117 to 68, and this was the "gag" which was 
long a rule of the House. At every session of Congress, 
during eight years, Adams moved to rescind this in- 
famous rule, but was always voted down. He was des- 
tined to win finally, for he was contending for a sacred 
right, inasmuch as the first amendment to the Constitu- 
tion guarantees to the people freedom of speech and the 
right to petition the Government for a redress of griev- 
ances. So, year after year, he presented the petitions sent 
to him, offering on one occasion 350 in a single day and 
always succeeding in asserting his principles, however 
wild the disorder. In illustration, take this scene, as de- 
scribed in his diary : " ' I refuse to answer, because I con- 
sider all the proceedings of the House,' " — he meant all 
relating to the petitions, — " * as unconstitutional.' While 
in a firm and swelling voice I pronounced distinctly these 
words, the Speaker and about two-thirds of the House 
cried ' Order ! Order ! Order ! ' till it became a perfect yell. 
I paused a moment for it to cease, and then said : ' A 
direct violation of the Constitution of the United States ! ' 
While speaking these words, with loud, distinct and slow 
articulation, the bawl, ' Order ! Order ! ' resounded again 
from two-thirds of the House. The Speaker, with ago- 
nizing lungs, screamed : * I call upon the House to sup- 



1837] A BITTER CONTEST IN THE HOUSE 277 

port me in the execution of my duty.' I then coolly re- 
sumed my seat." 

On one occasion, the opposition endeavored to embar- 
rass him by sending him a petition, signed by several 
Virginians, praying that the free colored population 
should be sold or expelled from the country. Mr. Adams 
stated, as he handed in the petition, that nothing could be 
more abhorrent to him than this prayer and that his 
respect for the right of petition was his only motive for 
presenting it. But the most exciting scene of all was on 
February 6, 1837, when he arose and stated that he 
held in his hand a petition, which purported to be an 
appeal from twenty-two slaves, and he would like to know 
whether it came within the rule of the House concerning 
petitions relating to slavery. The House was immedi- 
ately in a tumult ; cries of " Expel him ! expel him ! " 
were heard from all parts of the assembly. A motion 
was brought forward, stating that Mr. Adams, in at- 
tempting to introduce a petition from slaves, had com- 
mitted an outrage on the feelings of the people of a large 
part of the Union, a flagrant contempt on the dignity of 
the House, and should be called before the bar of the 
House and censured by the Speaker. Could the impene- 
trable veil that conceals the future have been lifted for 
a moment, several of those outraged gentlemen would 
have seen in a Congress of the future, their very seats 
occupied by negroes, as duly elected representatives. 
There were hot and bitter words against the brave old 
man in the debates that followed, and then he obtained 
possession of the floor. Was he intimidated ? Not in the 
least. " I disclaim," he said, " not any particle of what 
I have done; not a single word of what I have said do 
I unsay! Nay, I am ready to do and to say the same 
tomorrow ! " And he declared : " I have constituents to 



278 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1848 

go to, who will have something to say if this House ex- 
pels me. Nor will it be long before the gentlemen see 
me here again ! " In the end the House was glad to lay 
the matter on the table. 

Mr. Adams did good service in other directions during 
these years, but his imperishable fame rests on his serv- 
ices in behalf of the right of petition. His triumph came 
when, on December 3, 1844, the " gag " rule was re- 
scinded by a vote of 108 to 80. These stormy years bore 
heavily upon him, and in the summer of 1847 ^^^ ^"^^^ ^ 
stroke of paralysis, but, in spite of his advanced age, for 
he was eighty years old, he improved and in December 
returned to Congress. As he entered the House, feeble 
and broken, every member rose to his feet and remained 
standing until two of their number had escorted him to 
his seat. On February 21, 1848, he was in his usual place 
when, early in the afternoon, the Speaker rose to put a 
question, but he was interrupted by cries of " Stop ! Stop ! 
Mr. Adams ! " for Adams had made a motion as if to 
rise, but in the act fell forward insensible. All was con- 
fusion and the House hastily adjourned. Mr. Adams 
was placed upon a sofa and carried to the Speaker's room ; 
he was dying ; he spoke but twice, his last words being : 
" This is the last of earth ! I am content ! " He lingered 
in unconsciousness luitil the 23d, when he quietly passed 
away, dying in the Capitol, as it had been thought un- 
advisable to move him. 

In reviewing the closing events of Jackson's adminis- 
tration, we note the opening pages of a discreditable chap- 
ter in the history of the United States. It relates to 
Texas. Hardy adventurers from the southwestern States 
had settled in that part of Mexico, taking with them their 
slaves, although the Mexican Republic had abolished 
slaverv. As IMexico was not strong enough to enforce 



1837] INDEPENDENCE OF TEXAS 279 

this prohibition, she permitted slavery in that portion of 
her territory known as Texas. Differing in race and 
religion, there was soon friction and the Texans seceded, 
defeating the Mexicans at the Battle of San Jacinto in 
1836. Declaring their independence, they established a 
government, witii provisions strongly favoring slavery. 
The next year (1837) the United States recognized their 
independence, as did, soon after, England, France and 
Belgium. In the Senate debate on the subject Calhoun 
announced that he not only favored acknowledging the 
independence of Texas, but desired its admission into the 
Union as a State. The slaveholders of the South desired 
to obtain this vast territory for the extension of slavery, 
and they were charged with having carried out a cleverly 
devised scheme for obtaining their neighbor's property by 
settling there, establishing slavery, wresting the country 
from the weak control of Mexico, and setting up a gov- 
ernment; naught remained but to add this new domain 
to their native land. 

Jackson had, in 1829, offered $5,000,000 for the pur- 
chase of Texas, but Mexico had declined to part with her 
territory — hence the resort to intrigue. John Quincy 
Adams and other contemporaries assert that Jackson pro- 
posed to his old political friend, Sam Houston, of Tennes- 
see, to undertake the conquest of Texas, with the object 
of annexing it to the United vStates. Houston undoubt- 
edly enlisted men at New Orleans and invaded the terri- 
tory without opposition from the Federal authorities. The 
President, though favoring annexation, desired to gain 
in addition California and New Mexico, and preferred 
to keep the question open until these could be obtained ; 
besides, at the North, there was a strongly developed 
opposition to a vast increase of slave territory ; so the 
matter was left in abeyance. 



28o PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1836 

At this time the drift of political elements was in the 
direction of a new party. The tariff, by the compromise 
of 1833, was settled for years to come, the Bank was 
doomed, and slavery was not yet the burning question it 
became later. Those opposed to the Democratic party sim- 
ply united in opposition to Jackson's sway ; King Andrew, 
they named him. And thus arose the name Whig; they 
would unite to oppose King Andrew, as the Whigs of 
earlier days had resisted King George the Third. In pur- 
suance of this idea they adopted eagles, the flag and 
Washington's portrait as insignia and set up liberty-poles 
in opposition to the hickory poles planted by the Jackson 
men. In the solid ranks of the New York democracy 
there was at last a break, a faction known as the " Equal 
Rights " party, whose platform was radically democratic. 
They became known as " Loco-Focos," and obtained 
their peculiar name from this incident. At a meeting 
in Tammany Hall, their opponents declared an adjourn- 
ment and withdrew ; and, to make assurance doubly sure, 
shut off the gas. The Equal Rights men obtained can- 
dles and loco-foco matches and lit up the hall, adopted a 
platform and nominated an Equal Rights ticket. One 
of the daily papers dubbed them the " Loco-Focos," and 
in time this name was applied to the Jackson-Van Buren 
wing of the Democratic party. 

Webster and William Henry Harrison were the most 
prominent Whig candidates; the former, however, with- 
drew. Jackson's influence secured Van Buren's nomina- 
tion and he received in the Electoral College 170 
votes. Harrison had 73. For Vice-President, the 
votes were scattered among four candidates, and as 
no one had a majority the Senate, in accordance with 
the Constitution, selected the two names having the 
greatest number of votes and by a majority vote 



1837] THE EXPUMGERS 281 

elected the Vice-President — Richard M. Johnson, of 
Kentucky. 

In the closing months of Jackson's last term a strange 
scene was witnessed in the United States Senate. On 
December 26, 1836, Senator Benton moved that the reso- 
lution condemning the President's financial policy be ex- 
punged from the minutes. During the three years that 
had elapsed since Clay's resolution of censure, Jackson 
had exerted his utmost power to obtain its removal from 
the record. The whole country had discussed the ques- 
tion of expunging and it had been an issue in the late 
campaign. Many Democratic Senators were instructed 
by their legislatures to vote as the President so ardently 
desired. Benton, having presented the motion, made a 
long and extremely laudatory speech, in which the " tran- 
scendent merits " of Andrew Jackson's " glorious admin- 
istration " were duly set forth. In vain did Clay, Webster 
and Calhoun object, the President triumphed as usual. 
Senator Benton, in his book, describes the final scene — 
the brilliantly lighted chamber at midnight, the immense 
audience, the Secretary bringing forward the original 
journal and amid a profound silence, drawing a broad, 
black line around the offending words and writing across 
them " Expunged, by order of the Senate, this i6th day 
of March, 1837." So pleased was Jackson that he cele- 
brated his success by a dinner to the " expungers." 

Professor Sumner gives this summary of Andrew Jack- 
son's life : " He held more power than any other Amer- 
ican had ever possessed. He had been idolized by the 
great majority of his countrymen. He had been thwarted 
in hardly anything on which he had set his heart. He 
had had his desire upon all his enemies. He lived to see 
Clay defeated again and to help to bring it about. He 
saw Calhoun retire in despair and disgust. He saw the 



282 PRESIDENCY OF ANDREW JACKSON [1837 

bank in ruins ; Biddle arraigned on a criminal charge, 
and then dead, broken-hearted. In his last years he 
joined the church, and on that occasion. . .he professed 
to forgive all his enemies in a body. It does not appear 
that he ever repented of anything, ever thought that he 
had done wrong in anything, or ever forgave an enemy 
as a specific individual." 



CHAPTER XVI 

PRESIDENCY OF MARTIN VAN BUREN, WILL- 
IAM HENRY HARRISON AND JOHN TYLER 

Andrew Jackson was the last great President until 
Abraham Lincoln. During the intervening years the na- 
tion did not lack great men, but they were to be found 
in the House or the Senate, not in the President's chair. 
By a perverse fate those two famous men, Webster and 
Clay, were destined to go to their graves bitterly dis- 
appointed at failing to obtain the coveted honor of the 
Presidency. Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, 
Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan succeeded each other for 
one term administrations, except in case of death, during 
the next twenty-five years. They all present a striking 
similarity in training and circumstances. Harrison and 
Taylor were military men, all the others were lawyers 
and all, save Taylor, served in the Congress of the United 
States. With the exception of Harrison, Taylor and 
Buchanan, all had been members of state legislatures. 
The natural manner of progression appeared to be the 
bar, state legislature. Congress, the Presidency. The 
three Virginians, Harrison, Tyler and Taylor, belonged 
to families of social prominence. Polk, the remaining 
Southerner, was the son of a farmer of North Carolina. 
Of the northern men. Van Buren and Fillmore were of 
New York, Pierce of New Hampshire, and Buchanan of 

283 



284 VAN BUREN, HARRISON AND TYLER [1837 

Pennsylvania. All were of somewhat humble origin, es- 
pecially Fillmore and Buchanan; Fillmore beginning life 
by working in a woolen mill and studying after the day's 
labor with great diligence. Of him Queen Victoria re- 
marked, " he had the most perfect manner of any Ameri- 
can she had ever met." Buchanan had been United States 
Minister to Russia, and Harrison the distinguished Gov- 
ernor of the Northwest Territory. These years are filled 
by one absorbing question — slavery — and their history 
is a review of the unavailing efforts by which a nation, 
recoiling on the verge of civil war, endeavored to stay 
the fraternal strife. 

Martin Van Buren was inaugurated March 4, 1837, 
and at once encountered a tremendous financial storm, 
the result of a period of inflation, over-investment, wild 
speculation, the reckless banking that followed the dis- 
posal of the United States deposits among the state banks, 
and the withdrawal from them of over $9,000,000 at a 
time of stringency in the money market ; that amount 
being the first instalment of the surplus which had been 
voted as a deposit or loan to the States. The panic of 
1837 was one of the most disastrous in the mercantile 
history of the United States. On May loth, all the banks 
in New York City suspended specie payment and those in 
Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore immediately followed 
suit. By summer not a bank in the Union could meet 
its demands in gold and silver. The " pet banks " sus- 
pended with the others and in consequence Government 
funds to the extent of many millions were unavailable. 
Business was paralyzed, there were innumerable failures 
and wide-spread distress. The Government, hampered 
for specie, began paying its obligations in the notes of 
the suspended banks, which created great indignation 
throughout the country. Van Buren called a special ses- 



i84o] THE SUB-TREASURY 285 

sion of Congress and laid before them a new plan, to 
which the emergency naturally led. It was to separate 
forever the Government finances from either state or 
national banks, to make specie the medium of all Govern- 
ment transactions, and to place its funds in its own vaults, 
in its own custody. This was the plan of the " Independ- 
ent Treasury," or as it is now called, the " Sub-Treasury." 
This radical change, which was called the " Divorce Bill," 
as it separated the Government from the banks, was 
viewed with distrust and defeated. In January, 1840, it 
was presented to Congress for the fourth time and, as 
on a previous occasion, passed the Senate promptly. It 
was helped through the House by the pressure of the 
" previous question " and passed on June 30th. It pro- 
vided for the care of the funds and the appointment of 
custodians, and made the principal cities of the country 
centers of deposit. 

A natural result of the panic was a revulsion of po- 
litical feeling and the delighted Whigs saw discontented 
Democrats marching under their banner, which in fact 
floated over various and incongruous elements, united for 
the occasion and sustained by the hope that a change 
would effect a return of prosperity. William Henry Har- 
rison became their candidate, to the chagrin of Webster 
and the bitter disappointment of Clay, whose friends were 
out-manoeuvred in the Convention. John Tyler was nom- 
inated for Vice-President. The Democrats again put up 
Van Buren. The Whig campaign was wildly enthusi- 
astic, not in support of principles but in a reaction from 
party methods, and the vague but wide-spread feeling 
that any change would be for the better. There were 
monster mass-meetings, more in the nature of huge pic- 
nics than political gatherings, for the wives and daugh- 
ters were present and songs and the blare of the brass 



286 VAN BUREN, HARRISON AND TYLER [1841 

band increased the universal jollity. A Democratic paper 
had sneered at the idea of the party of Webster and Clay 
uniting on a comparatively unimportant man and re- 
marked : " Give Harrison a log-cabin and a barrel of 
cider, and he w^ould stay content in Ohio." The Whigs 
caught up this and dubbed him the " Log-cabin Candi- 
date." Log-cabins, ornamented w^ith coon-skins and With 
a barrel of cider before the door, whose latch-string was 
always hanging out to admit the welcome guest, became 
a feature in every procession and awakened boundless 
enthusiasm. The Log-cabin Campaign has been com- 
pared to the breach made in the walls of Jericho at the 
blowing of the trumpet and the great shout. " For," con- 
tinues the writer, " the Whigs fairly sung and hooted Van 
Buren into retirement. The Democrats were out-talked, 
out-roared, out-sung, and, when the time came, out-voted." 
William Henry Harrison was inaugurated on March 
4, 1 84 1. He had arrived in Washington on February 9th, 
his sixty-eighth birthday. The weather had been inclem- 
ent during his journey from Ohio and, wearied as he was, 
he became at once the center of a crowd, who accepted 
literally the " latch-string out," which had been so con- 
spicuous in the recent campaign. The turmoil and excite- 
ment told upon his health, and when a cold developed 
pneumonia he had little strength for resistance. At the 
last he became delirious and evidently thought himself 
addressing his successor, when, faithful unto death, his 
last words were : " Sir, I wish you to understand the 
true principles of the Government. I wish them carried 
out ; I ask nothing more." He died on April 5th, one 
month after taking office. The people loved and hon- 
ored this honest, upright man, who had faithfully served 
the nation, and they were deeply shocked and grieved at 
this calamity. 



i84i] JOHN TYLER BECOMES PRESIDENT 287 

John Tyler, the Vice-President, was at his home in Vir- 
ginia, but arrived at the Capital on the morning of the 6th, 
and took the oath of office on the same day. On April 
14th, he was installed in the White House. The situa- 
tion was unprecedented, for Tyler was the first Vice- 
President to become President. He had been nominated 
to satisfy one of those factions which had united with 
the Whigs to defeat the Loco-Focos, as the Jackson-Van 
Buren wing of the Democratic party was now called, and 
in no anticipation of a future contingency. 

Was Tyler a Whig? That disturbing question made 
the party very anxious. Upon taking office, he issued 
an address, which was " Whiggish " in sound, but was 
susceptible of a different construction. In June Congress 
assembled in special session. Both Houses passed a bill 
repealing the Sub-Treasury law and it was signed by 
the President. A bill was then brought in to establish 
that pet Whig measure, a national bank, which, in def- 
erence to Tyler's prejudices, was called the Fiscal Bank 
of the United States. It passed both Houses, was sent to 
the President and returned vetoed, on the ground that 
it provided for the establishment of State branches with- 
out the consent of the respective States. The Whigs were 
furious, their opponents delighted. A number of Demo- 
cratic Senators called on the President that evening and 
congratulated him upon the service which he had ren- 
dered the country. A few days later, in the Senate, Clay 
passed this demonstration in review and scored Tyler. 
He pictured a Democrat present on that occasion as ad- 
dressing this President, elected by Whig ballots, in the 
following words : " We had been ourselves struggling 
for days and weeks to arrest the passage of the Bill, and 
to prevent the creation of the monster to which it gives 
birth. We had expended all our logic, exerted all our 



288 VAN BUREN, HARRISON AND TYLER [1841 

ability, employed all our eloquence; but in spite of all 
our utmost efforts, the friends of your Excellency in the 
Senate and in the House of Representatives proved too 
strong for us. And we have now come most heartily to 
thank your Excellency that you have accomplished for us 
that against your friends which we, with our most strenu- 
ous exertions, were unable to achieve." A new bill was 
prepared which established a Fiscal Corporation. Under 
the operation of the previous question it passed both 
Houses, was sent to the President, and returned with his 
veto and a message that he considered any such plan un- 
constitutional and that " he would rather perish in up- 
holding our institutions than win applause by sacrificing 
his conscience." His conscience was not so sensitive re- 
garding his broken faith with the Whigs. To be obliged 
to adjourn Congress with the currency question unsolved, 
was a bitter humiliation for that party. 

After the second veto the Cabinet, being all Whigs, 
resigned, only Webster remaining, becavise, as Secretary 
of State, he was about to negotiate a treaty with England. 
Lord Ashburton arrived in April, 1842, and the Treaty 
of Washington was negotiated, which settled the long- 
vexed question of the northern boundary extending from 
Maine to the Rocky Mountains. The right of search 
claimed by England for the suppression of the slave trade 
was covered by a clause, called the " Cruising Conven- 
tion," which stipulated that each nation should keep its 
own squadron on the coast of Africa to enforce separately 
its own laws against the slave trade. This forever dis- 
posed of the last excuse for right of search. It redounds 
to Tyler's credit that he did all in his power to secure the 
success of the treaty. Webster determined to remain in 
the Cabinet until both nations had fully ratified the treaty, 
but this greatly displeased the Whigs, who having pub- 



1 842] ABOLITION MOVEMENT ADVANCES 289 

licly renounced Tyler were ill-pleased that Webster 
should remain in his Cabinet. The Whigs made no fur- 
ther efforts in behalf of national banking and it will, at 
this day, be generally admitted that Tyler, by the bank 
vetoes, rendered unwittingly a valuable service to his 
country. The Sub-Treasury, which was to be restored, 
is undoubtedly a better plan. But not so, thought the 
Whigs of 1841. 

The tariff of 1833 now underwent its last reduction 
(1842) and the Government being in need of funds, the 
Whigs brought in a new tariff bill which levied duties 
of from twenty- five to forty per cent. It would have 
produced an adequate revenue aside from the public land 
sales, which yielded more than $2,000,000 a year. This 
bill the President vetoed and a second tariff bill shared 
a like fate. A bill was finally framed, which the President 
signed, as he had become alarmed at the state of business 
and the public credit. 

The Abolition movement at the North had, in spite of 
persecution and obloquy, been steadily gaining ground; 
and the anti-slavery sentiment was increased even among 
those who disapproved of the Abolitionists. Webster, in 
a speech at New York, described this condition when he 
said: "The subject (of slavery) has not only .attracted 
attention as a question of politics, but it has struck a far 
deeper-toned chord. It has arrested the religious feeling 
of the country ; it has taken strong hold on the consciences 
of men. He is a rash man, indeed, and little conversant 
with human nature, and especially has he a very errone- 
ous estimate of the character of the people of this coun- 
try, who supposes that a feeling of this kind is to be 
trifled with or despised." 

The Rev. Samuel J. May relates that he once remon- 
strated with Garrison, advising him to be less heated and 



290 VAN BUREN, HARRISON AND TYLER [1842 

extreme. Garrison laid a gentle hand upon his shoulder 
and replied with sad earnestness : " Brother May, I have 
need to be all on fire, for I have mountains of ice about 
me to melt." A new phase of the question was to accel- 
erate the melting process — the return of fugitive slaves 
to their masters. During Washington's administration, a 
fugitive slave law had been enacted in accordance with 
the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution; this now 
became the occasion of great bitterness of feeling. The 
free North saw men and women, who had braved the 
utmost peril to obtain their freedom, captured and re- 
turned to servitude. Disgraceful as this was felt to be, 
even more intolerable was the demand that northern 
States should aid in these captures and that white men 
accused of stealing slaves should be delivered to south- 
ern state executives for punishment. Governor Seward, 
of New York, refused to surrender three white citizens 
to the States of Georgia and Virginia. In Massachusetts, 
there was intense excitement over the arrest of George 
Latimer, a native colored man from Virginia, who was 
claimed as a slave. A great crowd gathered in Faneuil 
Hall to protest against his surrender, and his owner was 
forced to accept the payment of $400 and to make out free 
papers in return. These, and other like scenes, angered 
the North and attempts were made in several States to 
mitigate the evil. Massachusetts forbade the use of her 
sheriffs or her jails in hunting down fugitive slaves and 
New York granted a jury trial to determine the facts in 
all such cases. 

Tyler had now become a President without a party, for 
the Loco-Focos refused to support him and he was ab- 
horrent to the Whigs. He determined, therefore, to bid 
for the southern pro-slavery vote by compassing the an- 
nexation of Texas, In pursuance of this plan Calhoun 



1 844] ANNEXATION OF TEXAS PROPOSED 291 

was made Secretary of State, in place of Webster's suc- 
cessor, Upsher, who had lost his life by the explosion of 
a gun on board the war-steamer, Princeton, during an 
excursion down the Bay. Two members of the Cabinet 
were killed and the President and Senator Benton nar- 
rowly escaped a like fate. The reorganized Cabinet were 
all pro-slavery men. 

The South had seen with alarm the North rapidly sur- 
passing her in population and wealth. Immigration 
avoided the slave States where, owing to a system of 
servile labor, the white citizen shared in the general con- 
tempt felt for all toilers. In order to regain their ascend- 
ency, they were exceedingly anxious to obtain Texas, out 
of which to create new slave States. Calhoun was in 
hearty sympathy with this scheme and, by successful in- 
trigue, a treaty was negotiated and sent to the Senate, 
notwithstanding that Mexico, in the previous August, 
had notified the United States that any act of Congress 
for annexing Texas would be considered a cause of war. 
The treaty was accompanied by a document, containing a 
despatch from Lord Aberdeen, which had been communi- 
cated to the Government by the British Minister, This 
extract will suffice to explain the tenor of the despatch : 
" With regard to Texas, we avow that we wish to see 
slavery abolished there, as elsewhere, and we would re- 
joice if the recognition of that country by the Mexican 
Government should be accompanied by an engagement, 
on the part of Texas, to abolish slavery eventually." Cal- 
houn declared that : " In self-defense we must annex 
Texas, in order to defeat England's intention of resort- 
ing to measures that would disturb our internal pros- 
perity and tranquillity." There was nothing surprising 
in Lord Aberdeen's despatch, for England had declared 
her anti-slavery views on all occasions. Calhoun simply 



2 92 VAN BUREN, HARRISON AND TYLER [1844 

seized upon a plausible pretext, regardless of fact or 
truth. Von Hoist remarks : " Because the slave-holding 
States thought their peculiar institution endangered by 
the existence of an independent free State, it was declared 
to be the ' imperative duty ' and ' a sacred obligation ' of 
the United States, imposed by their Constitutional com- 
pact, to absorb that State into the Union, in order to 
prevent the abolition of slavery in it." This claim awak- 
ened bitter opposition at the North among all classes. 
Northern pro-slavery men were willing that slavery 
should remain undisturbed, considering it a local south- 
ern institution, but to thus nationalize slavery was a neiv 
doctrine, and to pledge the nation to war in support of it 
aroused an opposition so intense that impeachment of 
the President was urged. The Senate, on June 8, 1844, 
rejected the treaty and the President and his Secretary 
of State resorted to fresh intrigues. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1844, Clay was again 
the candidate of the Whigs, and James K. Polk, of the 
regular or Loco-Foco Democrats. Tyler, who had been 
nominated at a convention of office-holders and pro- 
slavery men, was induced to withdraw, as he had no 
chance of success. The canvass opened brightly for the 
Whigs. The campaign song : 

Here's to you, Harry Clay ! 
Here's to you, my noble soul ! 
Here's to you, with all my heart I 

expressed very truly the intense affection and admiration 
felt by the Whigs for their brilliant leader. One instance 
will suffice to show Clay's sway over the hearts of men. 
Such a scene has never been witnessed in the United 
States Senate as on the occasion of Clay's retirement, 
March 31, 1842, when he delivered a farewell address of 
such thrilling eloquence that at its close the Senate, quite 



i844] CLAY A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE 293 

overcome, immediately adjourned and all crowded about 
him in an affecting leave-taking, even Calhoun embrac- 
ing him after years of estrangement. 

Clay, a southern man with northern principles, disliked 
the plot for the annexation of Texas and wrote, on April 
14, 1844, what is called the Raleigh letter, in which he set 
forth his objections. This naturally angered the Gulf 
States, for they ardently favored the Texas movement. 
Daniel Webster, who, by remaining in Tyler's Cabinet 
had become estranged from the Whigs, had been restored 
to favor and loyally supported Clay. The canvass was 
very exciting and the result was seriously affected by the 
rise of two new parties who drew support mainly from 
the Whigs. One was the " Native American party," 
which was very similar to the A. P. A. of today ; it de- 
sired only Americans and Protestants to hold office. Mr. 
Frelinghuysen, the Whig nominee for the Vice-Presi- 
dency, was President of the American Bible Society and 
the Catholics, quite rightly resenting the un-American 
principles introduced into the campaign by the American 
party, voted in great numbers for Polk. The other and 
more important branch was the Liberty or Free-soil 
party, which was strictly anti-slavery. There were now 
two thousand anti-slavery societies, with a membership 
of two hundred thousand. The extreme Abolitionists did 
not wish the anti-slavery movement to become identified 
with politics, desiring to have it remain an entirely moral 
reform. Wendell Phillips never voted in his life and 
Garrison but once. Nevertheless, a party was organized 
and James G. Birney nominated for the Presidency. Clay, 
with his strong love for the Union, disliked Abolitionists, 
who talked as boldly of seceding as did any southern 
nullifier, though arguing for human rights instead of 
state rights. Clay still hoped for gradual emancipation, 



294 ^^^^ BUREN, HARRISON AND TYLER [1844 

but this did not suit the extremists of the North and most 
certainly the trend of poHtical events did not foreshadow 
any such desirable result. 

Texas was the burning issue in this campaign. Polk 
was outspoken in favor of annexing Texas, and Clay, 
wishing to right himself with the Gulf States, now at- 
tempted to explain his position in what are called the 
Alabama letters. In one he said : "If the annexation 
of Texas could be accomplished without dishonor, with- 
out a war with IMexico, and with the common con- 
sent of the Union, I should be glad to see it." That 
letter cost him the Presidency. The Anti-Slavery 
Whigs were astonished and indignant. He wrote other 
letters to undo the mischief and the Democratic papers 
published scathing reviews of his " six Texas manifes- 
toes." It now became evident that the State of New York 
would decide the election and that there the vote of the 
third party would turn the scale. The State was lost to 
the Whigs, for had Henry Clay received the Free-soil 
vote cast for Birney, his election would have been as- 
sured. The great leader, whose reputation was world- 
wide, was defeated by a man scarcely known outside his 
own State. Carl Schurz remarks : " The object of Clay's 
highest ambition escaped him because, at the decisive mo- 
ment, he was untrue to himself." So intense was the 
grief at his defeat that the accounts seem incredible as 
we read of weeping men and women, business deserted 
while men gathered in groups to deplore the calamity, 
and of the universal gloom that prevailed throughout the 
North. This affection took a very practical turn, for 
Henry Clay discovered, upon visiting his banker, that all 
his debts had been paid, his notes and mortgages can- 
celled; the money having been sent the banker for that 
purpose by anonymous admirers. 



1845] ADMISSION OF TEXAS 295 

Tyler and Calhoun declared that the Democratic vic- 
tory proclaimed the wish of the people for immediate 
annexation, and a bill was introduced which authorized 
the President to offer Texas admission into the Union by 
a joint resolution of Congress, as if it were a territory. 
It passed both Houses and was signed by the President 
March i, 1845. O" ^^^^ l^st day of his term Tyler, 
acting on his own responsibility, sent to Texas by special 
messenger an official announcement of the act. This un- 
precedented method of annexation of a foreign state by 
act of Congress was asserted to be unconstitutional by the 
Whigs. 

William H. Seward declared that Texas and slavery 
involved the integrity of the Union and he prophesied 
truly when he said : " To increase the slave-holding 
power is to. . .give a fearful preponderance which may 
and probably will be speedily followed by demands to 
which the Democratic free labor States cannot yield and 
the denial of which will be made the ground of secession, 
nullification and disunion." And that is exactly what 
happened ! 



CHAPTER XVII 
PRESIDENCY OF JAMES K. POLK 

James K. Polk was inaugurated on March 4, 1845. I^ 
a conversation with George Bancroft, Secretary of the 
Navy in his recently appointed Cabinet, Polk remarked : 
" There are four great measures which are to be the 
measures of my administration: one, a reduction of the 
tariff; another, the independent Treasury; a third, the 
settlement of the Oregon boundary question ; and lastly, 
the acquisition of California." And he successfully car- 
ried out his programme. On July 30, 1846, he signed a 
new tariff bill, which greatly reduced protective duties 
and was to take effect in the following December. This 
tariff of 1846 served the country for ten years and was 
only changed in 1857 that further reductions might pre- 
vent a surplus ; which was the last important change 
until the Civil War rendered necessary increased reve- 
nues. The results of this low tariff have been thus 
summed up : " This free-trade tendency , . . gave in the 
first place a splendid impulse to American commerce. 
Our sails whitened the remotest seas. Our flag bore 
and then brought back. Next, agriculture prospered ; and 
it was most of all the prospect of supplying the wide 
population of the British Empire with American food 
products, as well as American cotton, that caused the 
Polk tariff to be enacted. . , And had our manufactures 
been swamped by the interchange that followed ? On the 

296 



1845] OREGON QUESTION 297 

contrary, they grew and prospered, for that best of all 
bounties was afforded them, raw materials unburdened 
by taxation, and the widest possible market." 

In December, 1845, the Independent, or Sub-Treasury, 
was reestablished and has been continued until the pres- 
ent time. By the efforts of the Secretary of the Navy, 
a Naval Academy at Annapolis was created (1845). 
Congress also formed (March, 1849) ^ i^^w Executive 
Department, the Department of the Interior, under a 
Secretary to be known as the Secretary of the Interior, 
who should rank equally with the other members of the 
Cabinet. Polk, in his inaugural address, stated : " Our 
title to the country of the Oregon is clear and unquestion- 
able." The country thus claimed extended to 54° 40' 
north latitude, that is, to the southern boundary of what 
is now Alaska, but which was then Russian territory. 
This boundary question had been for many years in dis- 
pute, and during the time there had been a joint occu- 
pancy of the country by Great Britain and the United 
States. The former did not propose to yield so important 
a point as a Pacific coast line for her North American 
provinces without a struggle. Recognizing this, the 
Americans sent up a defiant shout, " 54-40 or fight ! " 
and this while it was evident that in annexing Texas 
they had annexed her Mexican quarrel as well. By the 
Ashburton Treaty the northern boundary line extended 
from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, on 
the parallel 49°, but from the Rockies to the Pacific no 
line had ever been agreed upon. As neither the United 
States or Great Britain had any absolute claim to Ore- 
gon, a compromise most naturally suggested a settle- 
ment, and the parallel of 49° extended to the Pacific in- 
dicated a proper adjustment; but as that gave the Co- 
lumbia River to the United States, England had always 



298 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES K. POLK [lUs 

objected to her obtaining this decided advantage. In 
July, 1845, James Buchanan, Secretary of State, re- 
opened negotiations with Mr. (afterwards Sir) Richard 
Pakenham, the British Minister at Washington, by 
proposing the 49th parallel as the boundary line. This 
was a decided retreat from his former position of 
54° 40', but Pakenham did not consider the pro- 
posal satisfactory, and Buchanan thereupon withdrew it 
and re-asserted claim to the whole of Oregon. ** 54-40, 
or fight " again became a popular toast among the radi- 
cals. The pro-slavery party, however, cared little for 
Oregon; Texas claimed all their attention, and it be- 
came evident that the 49th parallel would be acceptable 
to the majority. Negotiations were renewed with Eng- 
land, and the matter was settled by a treaty ratified in 
June, 1846, by which that parallel, 49°, became the 
northern boundary line, and all of Vancouver's Island 
the property of Great Britain. 

The Texas question was not destined to so peaceable 
a settlement, for which result the United States was 
responsible. The President ordered four thousand 
men to Texas and placed General Taylor in com- 
mand with orders to occupy a position in the dis- 
puted territory, while he stationed a United States 
squadron in Mexican waters, on the pretext of protecting 
American interests. The Texas question had grown to 
vast proportions ; not only was the boundary of that State 
to be extended to the Rio Grande, but Polk was deter- 
mined to obtain New Mexico and California in addi- 
tion. The President dispatched John Slidell to Mexico, 
with instructions to offer payment for the additional 
territory, but he returned discomfited. Mexico refused 
to recognize him. In the meantime General Taylor had 
been ordered to advance his troops to the Rio Grande. 



1846] MEXICAN WAR 299 

He encamped opposite Matamoras, a Mexican town on 
the south bank of the river, and planted a battery to 
command the place, while American war vessels block- 
aded the mouth of the river to cut off supplies from the 
town. The Mexican general naturally considered this 
the commencement of hostilities ; he crossed the Rio 
Grande, and a skirmish with a small body of American 
troops followed, in which several Americans were killed. 
When this news reached Washington, the President sent 
a message to both Houses of Congress, stating that 
American blood had been spilled on American soil, and 
asking that the existence of war be recognized. Con- 
gress immediately declared war, May 13, 1846. There 
was a heated debate over the preamble, which read, 
" Whereas, hy the act of Mexico, a state of war exists," 
it being declared that this was a brazen untruth, " for," 
asserted the Whigs, " our own acts have precipitated 
hostilities." The Anti-Slavery party at the North rec- 
ognized the '* true inwardness " of the Texas annexation 
scheme, and one can gain a perfect knowledge of their 
sentiments by reading the first series of Lowell's " Bige- 
low Papers." 

General Grant, who served through the Mexican War, 
in his " Personal Memoirs " gives this opinion: " I. . .to 
this day regard the war. . .as one of the most unjust ever 
waged by a stronger against a weaker nation." This 
feeling found frequent expression in Congress. '' Why 
not," Benton thundered, " march up to ' fifty-four forty ' 
as courageously as we march upon the Rio Grande? Be- 
cause Great Britain is powerful and Mexico weak." But 
the plea of " manifest destiny " was put forth, that the 
United States was foreordained to extend a broad zone 
from ocean to ocean. 

The war, which lasted two years, was a succession of 



300 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES K. POLK [1848 

victories. By the treaty of peace signed at Guadalupe 
Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, the Rio Grande was made 
the boundary of Texas, from its mouth to El Paso, and 
the United States obtained New Mexico and California 
by the payment of $15,000,000. As slavery did not exist 
in Mexico or her provinces, Mexico desired a clause in- 
serted in the treaty, providing for the continued exclu- 
sion of slavery from the ceded territory. The United 
States Commissioner N. P. Trist replied : " If the terri- 
tory should be covered all over a foot thick with pure 
gold, on the condition that slavery should be excluded 
therefrom, I could not then even entertain the proposi- 
tion." 

The Mexican War was inevitably accompanied by a 
secondary contest and active hostilities began in Congress 
within three months after the declaration of war. In 
August, 1846, the President requested the House of 
Representatives to grant him $2,000,000 for " the pur- 
pose of settling the difficulties with Mexico." It was 
understood that the money was required in negotiations 
to obtain additional territory. The Whigs and Anti- 
Slavery Democrats now joined forces, in an attempt to 
prevent the South from further extending slavery. They 
selected David Wilmot of Pennsylvania to move an 
amendment to the bill which had been presented in ac- 
cordance with the President's desire. This amendment 
provided that " slavery should be forever prohibited in 
all territory acquired from Mexico," which was simply 
extending to any new acquisition the principles of the 
Ordinance of 1787. This was the famous Wilmot Pro- 
viso, which created great excitement throughout the 
country and a sharp division between North and South. 
It was defeated, and the bill as well. In the Congress of 
December, 1847, the Wilmot Proviso was again tacked 



1848] GOVERNMENT FOR OREGON ORGANIZED 301 

to a similar appropriation bill and again lost in both 
Houses after a bitter contest. The northern Whigs and 
many northern Democrats voted for it, but every member 
from the slave States except one from Delaware voted 
against it. The southern slave-holders, Whigs and 
Democrats, were drawn more closely together by this 
contest, and likewise the northern Anti-slavery men of 
all parties. 

A government was now organized for the territory of 
Oregon, with a clause which excluded slavery forever 
from the whole territory. Polk signed the bill, stating 
that he did so because Oregon was north of the parallel 
36° 30', the Missouri Compromise line, and he urged 
Congress to pass a bill extending that line to the Pacific. 
That the Oregon bill could be passed through Congress 
was owing to Whig victories at the polls. A great num- 
ber of northern men were dissatisfied with the war and 
the President's crafty policy, and the peculiar condition 
existed of an administration conducting a victorious war 
and losing ground with the country. Another unpleas- 
ant fact for Polk was that every day added to the fame 
of the great Whig Generals, Taylor and Scott. 

In the Congress that met December 1847, Robert C. 
Winthrop, a Whig, was chosen Speaker. In the House 
were Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, and in the 
Senate Webster, Calhoun, Thomas H. Benton, Stephen 
A. Douglas, Reverdy Johnson, John A. Dix and Jeffer- 
son Davis. For good or ill, these men were to exert a 
powerful influence upon their country's future. 

1848 was the year of the Presidential election. Clay 
had hoped to receive again the Whig nomination, but 
his party realized that they had little hope of success 
with a thrice defeated candidate, although he excited the 
same affectionate admiration as of old; whenever he 



302 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES K. POLK [1848 

spoke in public, no building could hold the crowds that 
struggled to hear him. As was rather wittily said : " Clay- 
could get more men to run after him to hear him speak, 
and fewer to vote for him, than any man in America." 
Clay, Scott and Webster each had their supporters, but 
the party united on the hero of the hour, General Zachary 
Taylor, a man of sterling patriotism and proved courage, 
whose sincerity and home-spun sense made him a popular 
candidate ; the people liked and trusted " Rough-and- 
Ready," as his soldiers called him. But many Whigs 
and Democrats, of strong anti-slavery tendencies, joined 
the Free-Soil party, in opposition to Taylor, because he 
was a southern slave-holder. They held a Convention 
and adopted a bold platform, which declared that Con- 
gress should exclude slavery from all free territory; 
there should be no more slave States; no more com- 
promises with slavery; but free soil, free speech, free 
labor and free men. They nominated Martin Van Buren 
for the Presidency and Charles Francis Adams for the 
Vice-Presidency. The regular Democrats nominated 
General Lewis Cass, of Michigan. Zachary Taylor was 
elected by a large majority, with Millard Fillmore as 
Vice-President. It was the last triumph of the Whig 
party; as soon as slavery became the absorbing issue, 
that party was necessarily broken up by the division 
between the Whigs, North and South. 

Polk was not a popular President, and no regret was 
expressed at his retirement, and no public honors were 
paid to his memory when he died, three months after 
leaving office. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

PRESIDENCY OF ZACHARY TAYLOR AND 
MILLARD FILLMORE 

Zachary Taylor was inaugurated March 4, 1849, 
and the new administration at once confronted the vexed 
questions connected with the new acquisition of territory. 
As early as February, memorials from California and 
New Mexico had been presented to Congress, protesting 
against the introduction of slavery into those regions. 
At the North, feeling was deeply stirred, and legis- 
latures of every State but one^ passed resolutions that 
Congress had the power, and it was its duty, to prohibit 
slavery in the territories. The South, alarmed at the 
increasing anti-slavery sentiment, rallied to its cause, 
and its state legislatures passed resolutions deploring 
the Wilmot Proviso, and asserting their intention to re- 
sist any infringement of their right to extend slavery. 
Excitement was at fever-heat, and threats to secede and 
set up a southern Confederacy were frequent. 

In California the rapid march of events determined the 
future of that territory. Before the treaty of peace had 
been signed (January, 1848), gold was discovered in the 
Sacramento Valley, but no one in the United States or 
Mexico knew of it when the treaty was ratified. By 
the opening of 1849 the news had spread like wild-fire, 

1 Iowa. The resolution passed the Assembly, but was blocked in 
the Senate. 

303 



304 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1849 

and there was a mad rush for the gold fields, not only 
from the United States, but in a lesser degree from 
foreign countries. In that year there arrived in Cali- 
fornia thirty-nine thousand persons by sea, and forty- 
two thousand over-land, and San Francisco, from a 
straggling settlement, became a city of twenty thousand 
inhabitants. All who have read Bret Harte, know the 
life of the Argonauts of '49 — a tale more strange than 
any invented by romance. A new Republic had sprung 
into life as though in response to the rubbing of the 
magic lamp. Never before or since was such a delirium 
as attended the California gold fever. Slavery had little 
chance of recognition from those toiling men. As one 
is said to have remarked : " Where every man made a 
slave of himself, there was no use keeping niggers." 

When the delegates met in convention, to organize a 
state government, the clause prohibiting slavery passed 
without a dissenting vote. The Constitution was voted 
for in November, 1849, ^^^ ""^ December Congress met. 
So many factions were there represented that the Whigs 
could not command a majority, and it was three weeks 
before a Speaker was elected, and then it was only ac- 
complished by suspending the rule and permitting a plu- 
rality to elect. In the Upper House were seen together, 
for the last time, that immortal trio — Webster, Clay and 
Calhoun ; for Clay had returned to the Senate, from 
which he had taken a dramatic farewell. His health was 
feeble, and Calhoun was even nearer death, but Webster 
was full of strength, and nourishing, as ever, his hope 
of the Presidency. 

President Taylor, though a slave-holder, had no de- 
sire to aid the extension of slavery, and he determined 
that the new territories should have the freedom they 
desired. In his annual message he favored the imme- 



1850] COMPROMISE OF 1850 305 

diate admission of California, with its free Constitution, 
and as New Mexico would soon take the same course, 
he advised Congress to await their action and " abstain 
from introducing those sectional topics, which had pro- 
duced such fearful apprehensions." These fears were 
not groundless ; the South was talking boldly of seces- 
sion ; disunion was rife. Henry Clay, though a slave- 
holder, disliked slavery, but the Union was dearer to 
him than the cause of human rights, and alarmed at the 
defiant attitude of the South, he turned naturally to com- 
promise as a means of reconciliation. Clay surely mer- 
ited his title of " The Great Compromiser." On January 
29, 1850, he introduced in the Senate a bill " to Secure 
the Peace, Concord and Harmony of the Union." This 
is the famous Compromise of 1850. It contained eight 
provisions: 1st, the admission of California with her 
free Constitution ; 2d, as slavery did not exist by law, 
and was not likely to be introduced into any of the ter- 
ritories acquired from Mexico, territorial governments 
should be established by Congress without any restric- 
tion as to slavery ; 3d, the boundary between Texas and 
New Mexico, which was in dispute, was determined ; 
4th, directed the payment of the public debt of Texas, 
contracted prior to the annexation, upon the condition 
that Texas relinquished her claim to any part of New 
Mexico; 5th, declared it was inexpedient to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia without the consent 
of Maryland, of the people of the District, and without 
just compensation to the owners of slaves; 6th, prohib- 
ited the slave trade in the District of Columbia ; 7th, de- 
clared that more effectual provision should be made for 
the rendition of fugitive slaves; 8th, proclaimed that 
Congress had no power to interfere in the slave trade 
between the States. This measure conceded to the North 



3o6 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1850 

the admission of California as a free State, and the pro- 
hibition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia; 
while the South gained also two important points, a final 
defeat of the Wilmot Proviso and the passage of a fugi- 
tive slave law, which compelled the North to cooperate 
with it in the return of fugitive slaves to bondage. 

On February 5th, and again on the 6th, Clay spoke in 
behalf of the Compromise. He was so feeble that he 
was obliged to request a friend's aid in mounting the 
steps of the Capitol. The friend suggested that he defer 
his speech, but Clay replied : " I consider our country 
in danger, and if I can be the means in any measure of 
averting that danger, my health and life are of little con- 
sequence." When he arose and faced the throng that 
crowded the Senate Chamber, he seemed inspired by the 
occasion and spoke with his usual eloquence and enthu- 
siasm. He pleaded with the North for concession, and 
with the South for peace. He reminded the North that 
California would undoubtedly be admitted as a free State 
and New Mexico also, and begged them to be content 
and not insist on passing the Wilmot Proviso. He urged 
the South to be less defiant and to remember that the 
large additions of territory — Florida, Louisiana and 
Texas — had been for their benefit, inasmuch as they 
were slave States. He denied the right of any State to 
secede, and declared : " War and dissolution of the Union 
are identical . . . And such a war ! . . . An effort to prop- 
agate a wrong! It would be a war in which we should 
have no sympathy, no good wishes, and in which all man- 
kind would be against us, and in which our own history 
itself would be against us." When he finished his speech, 
so great was the enthusiasm, we are told, that " throngs 
of both sexes gathered around him to congratulate, and 
women kissed his face, unabashed by the throng of dis- 



1850] "POR CONSTITUTION AND UNION" 307 

tinguished men who stood by." On March 4th, another 
crowded Senate Hstened to Calhoun's speech upon this 
measure; Hstened with unfeigned emotion, for all rec- 
ognized it as the last effort of that brilliant mind. He 
was too weak to read or speak, and Senator Mason read 
the speech which had been most carefully prepared, while 
Calhoun, pale, emaciated, a wreck of his once brilliant 
self, sat immovable before the Speaker. " I have. Sen- 
ators, believed from the first, that the agitation of the 
subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely 
and effective measure, end in disunion." " What a 
melancholy satisfaction," exclaims Von Hoist, " for the 
man who, for nearly forty years, had been one of the 
brightest stars of the Federal Government . . . thus to 
open his last speech." The speech was a striking and 
ingenious argument that the Union could be preserved 
only by the maintenance of an exact equilibrium between 
the North and the South and by the complete cessation 
of anti-slavery agitation. At its conclusion, Calhoun was 
supported from the Chamber; and thus closed the trag- 
edy of a brilliant life ; within the month he passed from 
earth. 

On March 7th, Webster spoke. How eagerly the North 
had waited for her greatest orator to speak ; and with 
what indignation she heard ! Another great crowd packed 
the Senate Chamber, to hear what has become known as 
the " 7th of March " speech, but which Webster named 
" For the Constitution and the Union." He began : " I 
wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor 
as a northern man, but as an American ... It is not to 
be denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations, 
and surrounded by very considerable dangers to our in- 
stitutions and Government. The imprisoned winds are 
let loose. The East, the North, and the stormy South 



3o8 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1850 

combine to throw the whole sea into commotion, to toss 
its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest 
depths ... I speak to-day for the preservation of the 
Union. . . Hear me for my cause! " He presented the 
whole question in his usual masterly manner, took Clay's 
position regarding the Wilmot Proviso, and like him 
reproached the North for its resistance to the fugitive- 
slave law, reminding them that " the article of the Con- 
stitution which says . . . they shall deliver up fugitives 
from service is as binding in honor and conscience as any 
other article." He expressed the opinion that the abo- 
lition societies had produced nothing good or valuable. 
In depicting the impossibility of peaceable secession, he 
exclaimed : " He who sees these States now revolving in 
harmony around a common centre, and expects them to 
quit their places and fly off without convulsion, may look 
the next hour to see the heavenly bodies rush from their 
spheres and jostle against each other in the realms of 
space, without causing the wreck of the Universe." Here 
and there are fine dramatic passages, pleading for the 
preservation of the Union with passionate earnestness. 
This speech produced a great sensation throughout 
the country. The South was naturally pleased, but the 
anti-slavery men at the North bitterly resented Webster's 
support of the fugitive-slave law. Horace Greeley, in 
the New York Tribune, was outspoken in disapproval, 
and Whittier wrote the poem " Ichabod " in grief for 
a fallen statesman. At a meeting in Faneuil Hall, 
called to condemn his course, Theodore Parker said : 
" The only reasonable way in which we can estimate 
this speech is as a bid for the Presidency." At this 
day, Webster is judged more justly. It was long 
claimed that his intense ambition for the Presidency 
had led him to take this step in expectation of win- 



1850] IVM. H. SEWARD ON THE COMPROMISE 309 

ning southern votes ; but to a man who so thor- 
oughly understood pubHc opinion, it must have been 
evident that the loss of northern support would offset 
any southern gain. Mr. Rhodes says : " Webster's dis- 
like of slavery was strong, but his love for the Union 
was stronger, and the more powerful motive outweighed 
the other, for he believed that the crusade against slavery 
had arrived at a point where its further prosecution was 
hurtful to the Union . . . ; and he adds : " We now see 
that, in the War of the Rebellion, his principles were 
mightier than those of Garrison. It was not " No union 
with slave-holders," but it was " Liberty and Union " 
that won. Lincoln called the joint names his watch- 
word, and it was not the Abolitionist, but the Union 
party, that conducted the war." In his devotion to the 
Union Webster never wavered. It was his God-given 
message to the people and he was faithful to his trust. 
Nevertheless most students would accept the verdict of 
Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge : " Nothing can acquit Mr. Web- 
ster of error in the methods which he chose to adopt for 
the maintenance of peace and the preservation of the 
Union ... In the 7th of March speech he broke from his 
past, from his own principles, and from the principles of 
New England, and closed his splendid career with a ter- 
rible mistake." 

There was one other great speech in this memorable 
debate. On March nth, William H. Seward spoke, in 
opposition to the Compromise. He boldly attacked the 
fugitive-slave law. " I say to the slave States, you are 
entitled to no more stringent laws, and that such laws 
would be useless . . . Has any Government ever suc- 
ceeded in changing the moral convictions of its subjects 
by force ? . . . We reverence the Constitution, although 
we perceive this defect, just as we acknowledge the 



3IO PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1850 

splendor and the power of the sun, although its surface 
is tarnished with here and there an opaque spot. But 
there is a higher law than the Constitution." This allu- 
sion to the Divine law of right and justice was seized 
by northern men as the great moral answer to slavery's 
constitutional claims. 

What was the attitude of the administration on this 
question? Before his inauguration Taylor had written 
to Jefferson Davis, his son-in-law, that he would not 
permit any encroachments by the North upon the slave- 
holding States. But he was an honest and patriotic man, 
and now, in the midst of events, he recognized that de- 
fiance and aggression were by the South rather than the 
North. When southern Hotspurs threatened a dissolu- 
tion of the Union, the President answered that if it were 
necessary, he would take the field himself to enforce the 
laws of his country; and if these gentlemen were taken 
in rebellion against the Union, he would hang them with 
as little mercy as he had hanged deserters and spies in 
Mexico. " Disunion is treason," declared this brave old 
soldier. 

During the spring John M. Clayton, Secretary of State, 
and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, the British Minister, ne- 
gotiated what is known as the " Clayton-Bulwer Treaty '* 
which was signed at Washington April 19, 1850. It 
related to a proposed canal to be constructed across Nica- 
ragua on the line of the San Juan River and a chain of 
lakes. This canal would form a waterway between the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the acquisition of Cali- 
fornia rendered the project most important to the United 
States. By the terms of the treaty both nations bound 
themselves to maintain the neutrality of the canal, whose 
passage should be open to the world, and to render all 
possible assistance to facilitate its construction. This 



1850] DEATH OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR 311 

friendly agreement produced future irritation as England 
did not comply with its very first article, which declared 
that neither nation would ever erect fortifications com- 
manding the canal, or exercise dominion over any part 
of Central America. England had previously established 
a protectorate over the Mosquito Coast, a portion of 
Eastern Nicaragua, and this she continued to maintain 
for ten years. 

In Congress the debates dragged through weary 
months. The compromise measure had been reported 
back from committee, somewhat changed in form, but 
substantially the same as presented. Summer came, and 
yet nothing was settled; although, in the Senate, Clay 
still fought for his bill, notwithstanding the failure of 
his health from day to day. 

On July 5th, the President was taken ill, and by the 9th 
all hope was abandoned. He died that evening. Having 
bade farewell to his wife and children, at the last he said 
distinctly : " I have always done my duty. I am ready 
to die." The North mourned deeply for this upright, 
honest and patriotic man. For the second time, death 
had placed a Vice-President in the President's chair. 
Fillmore was honest, patriotic and anti-slavery, but he 
lacked the firmness of the departed soldier. 

In August, Congress, which had assembled the pre- 
vious December and as yet accomplished nothing, pro- 
ceeded to dispose of all the vexed questions by passing 
the sections of the Compromise Bill. On the 9th, the 
Senate passed a bill which settled the boundary between 
Texas and New Mexico, and gave to Texas $10,000,000 
to relinquish her claim to further territory. It was in 
fact paying millions to induce her to lay aside civil war, 
as she was arming to assert her claims. On the 13th, 
the bill passed, admitting California with her free Con- 



312 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1850 

stitution. On the 15th, an ordinance was carried through, 
which established a territorial government for New Mex- 
ico, with the proviso that by permission of Congress 
this vast territory could be divided into future States, 
which should be admitted to the Union, with or without 
slavery, as their state Constitutions should prescribe. On 
the 26th, a new fugitive-slave law, for which the solid 
South voted, was passed. The compromise bills all went 
to the House, and after hot debates were carried through. 
On September 30 (1850), Congress adjourned after one 
of the longest and most contentious sessions on record. 
One episode will suffice to show how heated had been 
the debates. Senator Benton, though a life-long Dem- 
ocrat and a slave-holder, had little sympathy with the 
aggressive demands for the extension of slavery, and was 
consequently an object of hatred to the southern contin- 
gent. Senator Foote, of Mississippi, had addressed him 
in debate most insultingly on several occasions. At last, 
after a particularly offensive attack, Benton left his seat 
and advanced in a threatening manner toward his oppo- 
nent, whereupon Foote sprang forward, leveled a re- 
volver at him and cocked it. The surrounding Senators 
instantly restrained Benton and disarmed Foote, Benton 
exclaiming meanwhile : " I am not armed ; I have no 
pistol; I disdain to carry arms; let him fire; stand out 
of the way, and let the assassin fire." A committee of 
investigation was ordered, which reported these facts; 
information which the Senate already possessed, but neg- 
lected to suggest any punishment for Mr. Foote, who 
failed to receive so much as a reprimand for leveling a 
loaded revolver at a fellow-member during a session of 
the Senate. 

The new fugitive-slave law was one of the most in- 
famous laws ever passed in the United States. Under its 



i8so] NEW FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW 313 

provisions, the word of the claimant was sufficient to 
estabhsh the identity of the negro, not even the affidavit 
of the owner was necessary. The testimony of the fugi- 
tive was denied. No process of law could molest the 
slave-owner, or his agent, after the ownership of the 
negro was determined. The United States marshals and 
deputies were required to make every exertion to execute 
the law, under penalty of a heavy fine. If the slave 
escaped, they were liable for his value. If any attempt 
was made to resist capture, all citizens were commanded 
to aid in the execution of the law. Any person who pre- 
yented the arrest of a slave, or attempted to rescue a fu- 
gitive, or should harbor or conceal such fugitive, could 
be fined $1,000, or be imprisoned for six months, and 
should further pay the owner $1,000 for each slave so 
lost. It was only the border States which suffered from 
the loss of slaves to any extent, and the fugitive-slave law 
of 1793, that passed in Washington's administration, was 
sufficient to protect their interests. This cruel law was 
pressed on by the South as a taunt to the anti-slavery 
sentiment of the North. But the North was glad of any 
settlement after the year's turmoil, and meetings were 
held to testify to their love for the Union and the Consti- 
tution, and their determination to abide by the com- 
promise in good faith. New England even began to ex- 
cuse Webster and restore him to favor. Enthusiastic 
meetings were held in the South, and harmony seemed 
once more to prevail throughout the land. Of course, in 
several northern cities, there were large gatherings of 
Abolitionists, where Charles Sumner and Theodore Par- 
ker thundered against the fugitive-slave law, and Wen- 
dell Phillips, the " silver-tongued orator," spoke with 
burning eloquence — but these were fanatics, said the 
peace party. 



314 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1850 

The main arguments advanced by those who respec- 
tively upheld or opposed the new fugitive-slave law can 
be briefly stated. At an immense mass-meeting in Chi- 
cago, in October, 1850, Stephen A. Douglas, in the midst 
of one of his most brilliant speeches, opened a copy of 
the Constitution of the United States and read this clause 
from Article IV : " No person held to Service or Labour 
in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into an- 
other, shall, in consequence of any Law or Regulation 
therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but 
shall be delivered upon claim of the Party to whom such 
Service or Labour may be due." " That," continued 
Douglas, *' is the supreme law of the land. The command 
is imperative. There is no avoiding, no escaping the 
obligation, so long as we live under and claim the pro- 
tection of the Constitution." He was asked by a person 
present : " Is not the surrender of fugitive slaves a viola- 
tion of the law of God ? " And, in replying, Douglas 
said : " If the Constitution of the United States is to be 
repudiated upon the ground that it is repugnant to the 
Divine law. . .who is the prophet to reveal the will of 
God and establish a theocracy for us? Is he to be found 
in the ranks of northern abolitionism, or of southern dis- 
union ? . . . For my part, I am prepared to maintain and 
preserve inviolate the Constitution as it is, with all its 
compromises; to stand or fall by the American Union, 
clinging with the tenacity of life to all its glorious memo- 
ries of the past and precious hopes for the future." 
That was the strongest argument that could be advanced 
in favor of the law — it was sanctioned by the Constitu- 
tion. " True," said its opponents, " a fugitive-slave clause 
is a part of that instrument, but the laws passed in 
conformity therewith set at naught the best principles 
of the Constitution, and the very laws of God." 



iSso] ANTI-SLAVERY SENTIMENT 315 

Henry Ward Beecher declared returning a fugitive slave 
" comprises every offense it is possible for one man to 
commit against another. When we have ceased to pray; 
when we have rooted out the humanities ; . . . when we 
have burned our Bibles and renounced our God, then 
we will join with those whose patriotism exhibits itself 
in disrobing men of every natural right, and driving them 
from light and religion into gross heathenism." 

Lowell voiced this sentiment in glowing verse: 

" Though we break our fathers' promise, we have nobler duties first; 
The traitor to Humanity is the traitor most accursed. 
Man is more than Constitutions ; better rot beneath the sod, 
Than be true to Church and State, while we are doubly false to God; 
We owe allegiance to the State ; but deeper, truer, more 
To the sympathies that God hath set within our spirit's core. 
Our country claims our fealty ; we grant it so, but then 
Before man made us citizens, great Nature made us men." 

Perchance it may be said that this was asserting senti- 
ment in opposition to law. But who can estimate the 
impelling force of sentiment ? Emerson wrote : " In this 
Ship of Humanity, Will is the Rudder and Sentiment the 
Sail." 

Those who are fully imbued with the more humane 
spirit of the present day, may marvel at southern deter- 
mination to maintain an institution which is now con- 
demned by the civilized world. But in order to correctly 
judge of any circumstance one must endeavor to con- 
sider it, not from his own standpoint, but from the special 
point of view afforded by its peculiar environment. Sla- 
very, at the South, was no simple question to be determined 
upon strictly moral grounds; it was the most complex 
question that the nation had ever been called upon to 
solve, for it was interwoven with the whole social and 
political fabric of southern life. The wealth, and con- 



3i6 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1850 

sequent political power of the South, was thought to de- 
pend upon slave labor, for cotton was king. The planters 
believed fully what they stated : " The first and most ob- 
vious effect of the abolition of slavery would be to put an 
end to the cultivation of our great southern staple." But 
they were mistaken; the cotton crop of 1850 was over 
two million bales; that of 1891, under free labor, was 
over nine million bales, but this result would have seemed 
incredible to a planter of the old regime. 

In 1850, there were over three hundred thousand slave- 
holders in the South, but among these were many who 
owned but few negroes. Of planters who owned fifty 
slaves or more, there were less than eight thousand. The 
South had, in fact, become an oligarchy, although an im- 
portant division of the most democratic Republic the 
world has ever known. To the southern cotton-barons, 
emancipation meant loss of wealth, and the prospect is 
never pleasant; how much less so if there is an inborn 
contempt for labor. As the planters possessed ample 
leisure, they had always actively participated in political 
life ; they were the wealthy and ruling class of a vast 
section ; how bitter the loss of this importance and power ! 
The South was not destitute of a conscience. Many a 
southern planter agreed with Henry Clay who said : 
" Slavery is a curse to the master and a wrong to the 
slave." But to be rid of the burden without being 
crushed by its fall seemed impossible; not only would 
they compass their own ruin but the destruction of their 
beloved South as well. 

It is frequently stated that one of the most important 
causes that led to the success of the Republican party, the 
Anti-Slavery party about to arise at the North, was the 
revolution in public sentiment resulting from the publica- 
tion of Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the summer of 1852, 



i8s2] RUFUS CHOATE ON THE COMPROMISE 317 

Harriet Beecher Stowe's great book created an immense 
sensation. Within the year over three hundred thousand 
copies were sold in America alone. Having read it Rufus 
Choate remarked : " That book will make two millions 
of Abolitionists," and Sumner said in the Senate : " A 
woman inspired by Christian genius enters the lists, like 
another Joan of Arc, and with marvelous power, sweeps 
the chords of the popular heart." 

1852 was the year of the Presidential election and in 
June the Democratic Convention met. As the more im- 
portant names did not receive sufficient votes to elect, on 
the fifth day Franklin Pierce was brought forward and 
won on the forty-ninth ballot, being what is known as 
a " dark horse." He was not, however, the first of that 
peculiar breed, for James K. Polk was the first " dark 
horse " in American politics. 

A few weeks later the Whigs met and nominated their 
last candidate for the Presidency. Their platform ac- 
cepted the compromise and Rufus Choate brilliantly de- 
fended it. This extract is interesting in the light of 
subsequent events : " Extremists denounce all compro- 
mises ever. . . Do they forget that the Union is a com- 
promise; the Constitution, social life; that the harmony 
of the Universe is but the music of compromise, by which 
the antagonisms of the infinite Nature are composed and 
reconciled ? Let him who doubts — if such there be — 
whether it were wise to pass these measures, look back 
and recall with what instantaneous and mighty charm 
they calmed the madness and anxiety of the hour ! " Not 
quite yet had the time come when the epitaph would be 
proposed : " Here lies the Whig party, which died of an 
effort to swallow the Fugitive-Slave Law." 

Fillmore, Scott and Webster were the highest candi- 
dates and stood through fifty ballots, but on the fifty- 



3i8 PRESIDENCY OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE [1852 

third the delegates broke ranks and General Winfield 
Scott received sufficient votes to secure the nomination. 
The result was a bitter disappointment to Webster, who 
saw the ruin of his dearest hopes. Saddened and de- 
pressed, overworked and suffering from nervous strain, 
by autumn he was ill, and on the 23d of October, 1852, 
passed from earth, facing death with dignity, courage 
and Christian trustfulness. In the previous June Henry 
Clay had died at Washington and the nation sincerely 
mourned the loss of these two great men, who had de- 
voted their lives to her service. 



CHAPTER XIX 
PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE 

Franklin Pierce was elected by an overwhelming 
majority, the Whigs carrying but four States — Massa- 
chusetts, Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee. He was 
inaugurated March 4, 1853. The country was very 
prosperous, the Whigs crushed by their recent defeat, 
and the Democratic party rejoiced in the reasonable ex- 
pectation of ruling for many years to come. In the new 
Cabinet Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was Secretary of 
War. As he was a man of literary culture and had been 
a United States Senator, he was well fitted to assume the 
southern leadership and he aspired to the wearing of 
Calhoun's mantle. 

The President, in his first annual message, asserted 
that the compromise " had restored a sense of repose and 
security to the public mind." One month from the day 
on which Congress listened to this agreeable assurance, 
a bill was introduced in the Senate, which was to destroy 
all harmony and pave the way for civil war. On January 
4, 1854, Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, presented a bill 
to establish a territorial government for Nebraska, which 
region was a part of the Louisiana purchase, lying north 
of the parallel 36° 30' and consequently free territory, by 
the Missouri Compromise of 1820. By one section of the 
bill now presented, it was provided that when Nebraska 
should be admitted as a State, she should come into the 

319 



320 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1854 

Union with or without slavery, as her Constitution should 
provide. As this was in direct violation of the law, Sen- 
ator Dixon, of Kentucky, moved as an amendment " the 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise." The bill was sent 
to a committee and returned altered and amended, divid- 
ing Nebraska into two territories, Kansas and Ne- 
braska, and containing a clause for the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise. " The object is not," exclaimed 
Douglas, " to admit or to exclude slavery, but to remove 
whatever obstacles Congress has placed in the way of it." 
The Compromise of 1850 decreed that " a territory shall 
become a State with or without slavery, as its Constitu- 
tion prescribes," and this principle is inconsistent with a 
Congressional prohibition of slavery. It is intended to 
apply the prnciple of non-intervention to all our terri- 
tories. This doctrine was now to be vaunted as " popu- 
lar sovereignty," or, as it was often called, " squatter 
sovereignty." This bill set the North ablaze. The re- 
newal of the slavery agitation was not initiated by the 
desire of the people. North or South, but to gratify the 
ambition of Stephen Arnold Douglas. New England 
placed a suggestive emphasis upon that second name ; and 
yet the day was to come when this man, sinking the parti- 
san in the patriot, was to render inestimable service to 
his country, in her hour of peril, by his active loyalty to 
the Union. Douglas ardently desired the Presidency. 
The vote of New England was irretrievably lost to him, 
but he could hope to carry the West, and to gain the 
South would assure success. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill 
was a bid for southern support. John Van Buren, of 
New York, a prominent Democratic leader, discussing 
the bill in a private letter, asked the question : " Could 
anything but a desire to buy the South at the Presiden- 
tial shambles dictate such an outrage ? " Douglas, who 



i854] KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL 321 

was called " The Little Giant," was, like Clay, a born 
leader, and he now became the recognized head of the 
pro-slavery branch of the Democratic party. Horace 
Greeley once said : " Had Douglas been a hard student, 
it would have been difficult to set limits to his power." 
He was a brilliant speaker and most splendidly advocated 
his Kansas-Nebraska Bill. He met in opposition Charles 
Sumner, William H. Seward, Edward Everett and Sal- 
mon P. Chase, all men of culture and fine intellectual 
gifts, and all of New England birth except Seward, al- 
though Chase was identified with Ohio. Seward, ex- 
Governor of New York, had won renown in debate with 
Webster, Clay and Calhoun ; and Everett an honored ex- 
President of Harvard College, had been Webster's suc- 
cessor as Secretary of State, in Fillmore's Cabinet. 
Charles Sumner was a man of noble aims, a statesman, 
scholar and man of the world. Handsome and stately, 
he was as admired in the society of London as in that 
of Boston. He formed one of that immortal group of 
poets and scholars who adorned the " Athens of Amer- 
ica." 

In the Kansas-Nebraska debate, these men made good 
their cause. Seward pleaded for " freedom and the pub- 
lic faith." " The slavery agitation," he said, " is an 
eternal struggle between conservatism and progress, be- 
tween truth and error, between right and wrong. You 
may legislate and abrogate as you will, but there is a 
superior power that overrules all your actions and all 
your refusals to act, and, I fondly hope and trust, over- 
rules them to the advancement of the greatness and glory 
of our country." Sumner spoke eloquently against the 
removal of the " landmarks of freedom." He arraigned 
the bill, in the name of public faith, as an infraction of 
solemn obligations, assumed beyond the power of recall 



3_-2 PRESIDEXCY OF FRANKLIX FIERCE [1854 

by the South, atul in the name of freedom as an unjusti- 
fiable departure from the Anti-slavery policy of the fath- 
ers. " The country," he said, " is directly summoned to 
consider face to face a cause which is connected with 
all that is Divine in religion, with all that is pure and 
noble in morals, with all that is truly practical and con- 
stitutional in politics . . . Though long kept in check, it 
now, by your introduction, confronts the people, demand- 
ing to be heard. To every man in the land it says with 
clear, penetrating voice : ' Are you for freedom, or are 
you for slavery? ' and every man in the laiul nuist answer 
this question when he votes." 

Everett denied Douglas' assertion that the adoption of 
the Compromise Bill of 1850 annulled the Missouri Com- 
promise Act. Chase vigorously attacked the clause re- 
pealing the compromise. He said : " What does slavery 
ask for now ? It demands that a time-honored and sacred 
compact shall be rescinded ; . . . a compact which has been 
universally regarded as inviolable. North and South; a 
compact, the constitutionality of which few have doubted 
and by which all have consented to abide... A large 
majority of southern senators voted for it; a majority of 
southern representatives voted for it. It was approved 
bv all the southern members of the Cabinet, and received 
the sanction of a southern President ; . . . and now the 
slave States propose to break up the compact without the 
consent and against the will of the free States." And 
he concluded by an appeal to the Senate to reject the bill 
before them, as " it is a violation of the plighted faith 
and solemn compact which our fathers made, and which 
we, their sons, are bound by every sacred tie of obliga- 
tion sacredly to maintain." 

While these men were eloquently contending in the 
Senate, a powerful press at the North sustained them. 



1854] STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS 323 

Horace Greeley, of the Tribune; William Cullen Bryant, 
of the Evening Post; Henry J. Raymond, of the Times; 
Samuel liowles, of the Springfield Republican; James 
Watson Webb, of the Courier and Inquirer; and Thur- 
low Weed, of the Albany Journal, all bore an important 
part in guiding- public opinion. Throughout the north- 
ern vStates immense mass-meetings were held to protest 
against the extension of slavery. Legislatures of several 
northern States passed resolutions condemning the bill 
and memorials against the appeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise were sent to the Senate; one bore the signatures 
of 3,050 of the New England clergy. 

Douglas himself closed the debate in the Senate. It 
was an exciting scene. We are told that " Douglas, al- 
ways a splendid fighter . . . seemed this night like a gladi- 
ator. . . Never in the United States Senate, in the arena 
of debate, had a bad cause been more splendidly advo- 
cated ; never more effectively was the worse made to 
appear the better reason." The main point of his argu- 
ment was this declaration : " The principle which we pro- 
pose to carry into effect is this: That Congress shall 
neither legislate .slavery into any territory or State, nor 
out of the same ; but the people .shall be left free to regu- 
late their domestic concerns in their own way, subject 
only to the Constitution of the United States." In con- 
clusion, he said : " I have not brought this question for- 
ward as a northern man, or as a southern man ... I have 
nothing to say of northern rights, or southern rights. I 
know of no sucli divisions, or distinctions, under the Con- 
stitution. The bill does equal and exact justice to the 
whole Union ... It violates the rights of no State or 
territory, but places each on a perfect equality and leaves 
the people thereof to the free enjoyment of all their rights 
under the Constitution." He spoke until daybreak and 



324 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1854 

the great audience remained until the close. At five 
o'clock in the morning the bill passed by a vote standing 
37 to 14. The bill was sent to the House, where, by 
means of every Parliamentary device and assisted by the 
influence of the administration, it was passed after a fierce 
contest. Thomas H. Benton was one of its most bitter 
opponents. Benton, after serving for thirty years in the 
United States Senate, had failed of reelection, the Mis- 
souri legislature disapproving of his anti-slavery senti- 
ments, but undaunted, he appealed to his constituency and 
was returned to Congress as a Representative. 

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill was signed by the President 
on May 30, 1854, whereupon Horace Greeley remarked: 
" Pierce and Douglas have made more Abolitionists in 
three months than Garrison and Phillips could have made 
in half a century." Five years later Douglas said : " I 
passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act myself. I had the au- 
thority and power of a dictator throughout the whole 
controversy in both Houses. The speeches were nothing. 
It was the marshalling and directing of men, and guard- 
ing from attack, and a ceaseless vigilance preventing sur- 
prise, that carried the measure." 

Henry Wilson, in his book, " The Rise and Fall of the 
Slave Power in America," closes the chapter on the 
" Abrogation of the Missouri Compromise," in these 
words : " Thus, after an excited and protracted debate 
of four months, in which the country was stirred to its 
profoundest depths, the plighted faith of the nation was 
broken and the landmarks of freedom were removed. A 
region of virgin soil, of fertility and beauty, consecrated 
by the solemn compact of the Government to freedom and 
free institutions, was opened wide to dominating masters 
and cowering slaves. That faithless act was consum- 
mated by the servility of northern men, who, seeing that 



i8s4] THE SURRENDER OF ANTHONY BURNS 325 

the Slave Power was supreme, were led to believe that 
its ascendency would outlast their day; and with that 
assurance they seemed content to bow to its behests and 
do its bidding. Simply selfish, ambitious and anxious 
to win, they were ready to disregard the rights of man, 
the enduring interests of the country, and the sacred 
claims of the Christian religion." 

In addition to the agitation caused by the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, the excitement at the North was aug- 
mented by the arrests under the Fugitive Slave Law. 
The excitement culminated when Anthony Burns, a ne- 
gro who had escaped three months before, was arrested 
in Boston on May 24, 1854. By the 26th the city was in 
a ferment. A great meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, 
at which Wendell Phillips spoke. " See to it," he said, 
" that tomorrow, in the streets of Boston, you ratify the 
verdict of Faneuil Hall, that Anthony Burns has no mas- 
ter but his God." The fugitive slave must be returned, 
as the law and the Constitution commanded, and every 
precaution was taken to prevent a rescue, on the occasion 
of his removal. A large body of police and twenty-two 
companies of Massachusetts soldiers lined the streets 
through which Burns must pass. The procession was 
composed of one United States Artillery Battalion, one 
Platoon of United States Marines, the Marshal's posse of 
125 men guarding the negro, two Platoons of Marines, a 
field-piece, and another Platoon of Marines. The build- 
ings on the line of march were draped in mourning; the 
American flag was shrouded in black. From a window 
opposite the old State-House was suspended a black cof- 
fin, on which were the words " The Funeral of Liberty." 
The solemn procession was witnessed by 50,000 people, 
and from them were heard hisses and groans, and cries of 
" Shame ! Shame ! " The fugitive was marched to the 



326 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1854 

wharf and placed on board a United States Revenue cut- 
ter, which sailed at once for Virginia. Rhodes says : 
" To this complexion had it come at last ! In a com- 
munity celebrated all over the world for the respect it 
yielded to law and for obedience to those clothed with 
authority ... it now required, to execute the law, a large 
body of police, 1,140 soldiers, with muskets loaded... 
and furnished with a cannon, loaded with grape-shot." 

Many northern States now passed personal liberty acts, 
which threw every difficulty in the way of the slave- 
catcher, and every assistance in the path of the fugitive; 
some of these laws came periously near nullification. To 
counteract these a bill was introduced in the Senate, to 
render ineffectual unfriendly legislation in northern 
States. Sumner offered, as an amendment, the repeal of 
the fugitive-slave law; but it received only nine votes, 
while the bill passed. This transaction is interesting, for 
it indicates the futility of any attempted curtailment of 
the slave power. Slavery, triumphant, ever aggressive, 
and asserting its constitutional claims, did but verify the 
words of John Quincy Adams : " Slavery constitutes the 
very axle around which the administration of the Na- 
tional Government revolves. All its measures of foreign 
or domestic policy are but radiations from that centre." 

Southern expansionists now coveted the island of 
Cuba, so desirable for additional slave territory. The 
president, abetted by Jefferson Davis, approved of this 
design, but William L. Marcy was a conservative Secre- 
tary of State and prevented any overt act. The north- 
ern States, thoroughly aroused over the passage of the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, were determined against the acqui- 
sition of new slave territory. The President, yielding to 
the pressure of public opinion, on May 31, 1854, issued 
a proclamation of neutrality and of warning to those 



i8S4] THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 327 

engaging in any unlawful expedition against a friendly 
nation. This was directed against an expedition which 
was preparing, under the direction of ex-Governor Quit- 
man, of Mississippi, for the invasion of Cuba. Compli- 
cations arose and for a time relations with Spain were 
threatening. 

In this season of turmoil and political change arose 
the Republican party. Gradually under its standard were 
united those of the Anti-Slavery faith, whether Whigs, 
Free-Soilers or Democrats. The Whigs were divided into 
two divisions known as " Cotton Whigs " and " Con- 
science Whigs," and a similar difference of opinion re- 
garding slavery had disrupted the other parties. The 
Democrats objected to the use of the name Republican, 
considering it sacred to the founder of their own party, 
Thomas Jefferson. But they speedily dubbed them 
" Black Republicans," and this suggestion probably ren- 
dered the use of the name less obnoxious. Throughout 
the slave States the Democratic ranks were firm and 
united but they were losing ground at the North. Ger- 
man immigrants had largely settled in the States of Iowa 
and Wisconsin and were an important element in Ohio. 
Like the majority of foreigners, they had joined the 
Democratic party, but they were opposed to the exten- 
sion of slavery and united with the Republicans. The 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill therefore made the Northwest Re- 
publican. It destroyed the Whig party and built up the 
Republican party on its ruins, and it led to the defeat of 
the Democratic party, which seemed so securely en- 
trenched in power. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill has been 
called " the grossest political blunder in American his- 
tory." 

There were minor events that intensified the anti-slav- 
ery sentiment at the North. Every fugitive slave helped 



328 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1854 

on by the " Underground Railroad " not only excited 
sympathy for his sufferings, but for his wretched broth- 
ers in bondage. Undoubtedly there were many negroes 
who were more comfortably situated as slaves than they 
ever afterwards were as free men ; but the evils insepara- 
ble from slavery all must admit. The " Underground 
Railroad " was composed of a chain of friends and houses 
of refuge for the fleeing negro, from Maryland through 
Pennsylvania and New York or New England to Canada, 
and from Kentucky and Virginia through Ohio to Lake 
Erie or the Detroit River. The houses were called sta- 
tions, and arriving at the first station the fugitive was 
passed on to the next, until he finally gained his freedom 
under the British flag. Many well-known men and 
women were conductors and station-keepers on this silent 
line. 

What is known as the " Kansas Conflict " resulted 
from the practical application of the doctrine of non- 
intervention. During the agitation over the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, one man recognized that this legislation, 
which was intended to extend slavery could be made 
equally effective for its restriction. Mr, Eli Thayer, of 
Massachusetts, proposed to make Kansas a free State by 
founding therein free labor towns. He organized the 
" Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society," drew up its 
charter, and carried it through the legislature of which 
he was a member. His efforts met with a hearty re- 
sponse, Charles Francis Adams, for instance, contribut- 
ing $25,000 to the cause. 

By the close of December, 1854, several hundred set- 
tlers had been sent west and societies for the same 
purpose were forming in other northern States. But pro- 
slavery men from Missouri had also entered Kansas in 
large numbers, and the doctrine of " popular sover- 



1855] THE KANSAS CONFLICT 329 

eignty " presented an important question — which was 
the sovereignty? Determined to gain the territory for 
slavery on election day, March 30, 1855, a body of bor- 
der ruffians from Missouri, heavily armed, marched into 
Kansas and overawing the authorities, cast a pro-slavery 
vote wherever they thought it needed ; having given this 
neighborly assistance, they returned home in good spirits 
— it may be said with truth, full of spirits. They had 
cause for rejoicing, for in a territory containing 2,905 
qualified voters their efforts had raised the vote cast to 
over 6,000. Political confusion reigned ; at one time there 
were two governments in operation ; a constant guerilla 
warfare existed varied by more severe combats ; men 
went armed even to the plough. It was felt throughout 
the North that the slavery question was to be fought out 
on the soil of Kansas and the North began to respond 
to the call for munitions of war. Henry Ward Beecher 
said : " For the slave-holders of Kansas, the Sharp rifle 
was a greater moral agency than the Bible." At a great 
meeting held in a church at New Haven, seventy-nine 
emigrants enlisted for Kansas : Professor Silliman, of 
Yale, offered to donate a rifle, the clergyman of the 
churchi another, others followed and Beecher pledged 
Plymouth Church to furnish twenty-five. " Bleeding 
Kansas " was the theme of the northern Anti-Slavery 
press and was discussed at every fireside. A like excite- 
ment pervaded the South. Their press teemed with fiery 
articles and meetings were held throughout the cotton 
States, to raise money and enlist men for the support of 
the pro-slavery cause in the disputed territory. While 
northern men were making every effort in the cause 
of freedom, there were southern men quite as active for 
the advancement of slavery. Colonel Buford, of Ala- 
bama, sold his slaves to provide funds wherewith to fit 



330 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1855 

out a company of 280 emigrants for Kansas. Before 
leaving, they marched to a Protestant Church, where the 
clergyman invoked the Divine blessing on their enterprise 
and over 3,000 of their fellow-citizens gathered to cheer 
their departure. " Meanwhile the nation watched with 
nervous suspense the lurid tableaux of popular sover- 
eignty in Kansas." 

When Congress assembled in December, 1855, it was 
composed, to a large extent, of members elected on the 
Kansas issue. There was unprecedented difficulty in 
electing a Speaker of the House, the contest lasting for 
two months and then a decision was only arrived at by 
suspending the rule and permitting decision by a plurality 
vote. On the 133d ballot Nathaniel P. Banks was elected, 
which was a triumph for the anti-slavery division. The 
administration had given what aid and comfort it could 
to the pro-slavery party in Kansas and the matter was 
now presented to Congress, occasioning a bitter wrangle 
in that body. In March a committee was appointed to 
investigate the troubles in the State, but the administra- 
tion of Pierce was not to witness a settlement of the 
difficulty. During the debates in Congress, Charles Sum- 
ner attacked slavery and southern methods for its exten- 
sion, while Douglas defended them with his usual bril- 
liancy. 

On the 19th and 20th of May (1856) Sumner delivered 
a speech, afterward published under the title " The Crime 
Against Kansas," that crime being the continued effort 
to force slavery upon a territory which had been dedi- 
cated to freedom by the pledged word of the nation. He 
was perfectly fearless and in a bitter arraignment of 
South Carolina, made an equally severe attack upon Sen- 
ator Butler of that State. Two days after this exciting 
debate, Sumner sat at his desk writing letters, the Senate 



1856] CHARLES SUMNER ASSAULTED 331 

having adjourned after a short session. He was ap- 
proached by Preston Brooks, a Representative from 
South Carolina, who, standing over him said : "I have 
read your speech twice over carefully. It is a libel on 
South Carolina and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of 
mine." Brooks carried a heavy cane and as he ceased 
speaking struck Sumner a blow upon the head. Dazed 
by the blow and pinned down by the desk, he could make 
no effective resistance, and Brooks rained blows upon 
the head of the defenseless man, until the cane broke and 
Sumner fell to the floor unconscious and bleeding. The 
blows would have killed a man of less strength, but the 
Senator's iron constitution enabled him to rally. For 
over three years he submitted to treatment from cele- 
brated physicians in America and Europe and finally re- 
gained a fair degree of health but never his former vigor. 
During these years his vacant chair in the Senate spoke 
more eloquently than any words, for he had been 
promptly reelected on the expiration of his term, Massa- 
chusetts voluntarily submitting to the consequent loss of 
power and influence. 

This dastardly attack aroused deep resentment 
throughout the North. The South sustained Brooks 
and justified his conduct in thus, as they claimed, aveng- 
ing the insult to his kinsman and vindicating the honor 
of his State. The Richmond Inquirer remarked : " We 
trust other gentlemen will follow the example of Mr. 
Brooks, so that a curb may be imposed upon the trucu- 
lence and audacity of abolition speakers. By this means," 
the writer declared, " they will soon learn to behave 
themselves like decent dogs — they can never be gentle- 
men." The House of Representatives appointed a com- 
mittee of investigation, which reported in favor of 
Brooks' expulsion ; a vote to that effect failed to pass 



332 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1856 

the House, only one southern Representative voting to 
expel. Brooks thereupon resigned and his district at 
once reelected him, his opponent receiving but six 
votes. 

About this time the news arrived from Kansas that the 
tov^^n of Lawrence had been destroyed by a pro-slavery 
mob. A bitter cry went up from the North ; one of her 
noblest Representatives had been struck down in the Sen- 
ate Chamber, and the city dedicated to freedom was laid 
waste! These outrages greatly strengthened the new 
Republican party, which was politically important, as 
1856 was the year of a Presidential election. 

The Republicans nominated for the Presidency John 
C. Fremont, and the Democrats James Buchanan. Both 
men were selected as available candidates, for neither had 
been actively identified with the great question of the 
hour and might be trusted to appeal to doubting voters. 
Buchanan, at this time, was Minister to England. Fre- 
mont, a son-in-law of Thomas H. Benton, was well- 
known for his explorations in the Rocky Mountains, 
where his adventures had won him the sobriquet of " The 
Pathfinder." The Republican platform asserted : " It is 
both the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in the 
territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and 
slavery." The Democratic platform upheld the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, pledged a faithful execution of the fugi- 
tive-slave law, and condemned all agitation of the slavery 
question. 

A new party, or rather, a revival of an old one, en- 
tered into this campaign. In 1852 the Native American 
party was revived as a secret fraternity. When ques- 
tioned regarding their aims and principles they replied : 
" I know nothing " ; and this non-committal answer soon 
gave them the name of " Know-Nothings " ; but it 



1856] "KNOW-NOTHINGS" 333 

was well understood that like their predecessors, they 
objected to Roman Catholics and foreign-born citizens 
obtaining political power. The Know-Nothings finally 
adopted the name of the American party and the motto 
" America for tfie Americans." The vote of the ignorant, 
foreign-born citizen was then, as now, a serious danger, 
but an equal menace to free institutions was a vast, secret, 
political organization. The religious prejudice was not 
only bigoted but opposed to the letter and spirit of the 
Constitution. The American party, however, was strong 
enough in 1856 to nominate Millard Fillmore for the 
Presidency. 

In this campaign so decidedly was the North arrayed 
against the South that the cry was raised of a " Geo- 
graphical Campaign," and the danger to the Union of 
section pitted against section. In the North a noble fol- 
lowing marched under the Republican banner. Profes- 
sors of Yale and Harvard, Emerson, Longfellow, Holmes, 
N. P. Willis, Washington Irving, Whittier, and Bryant 
all took part in the campaign, and George William Curtis 
delivered his fine oration on the " Duty of the American 
Scholar to Politics and the Times." Clergymen preached 
against slavery extension, while the ablest religious paper 
of the day, the Independent, urged its readers to vote for 
Fremont, saying : " Fellow-citizens, remember it is for 
Christ, for the nation, and for the world that you vote at 
this election. Vote as you pray ! Pray as you vote ! " Pre- 
suming, evidently, that all its praying subscribers were 
Republicans. 

But their triumph was not yet. Buchanan was elected. 
The Democrats carried Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indi- 
ana, Illinois, California, and all the slave States except 
Maryland. Maryland cast her vote for Fillmore and the 
eight votes of this State were all the ballots that Fillmore 



334 PRESIDENCY OF FRANKLIN PIERCE [1856 

received in the Electoral College. The Democrats elected 
a majority of the next House of Representatives. The 
Republican popular vote, however, was so large that their 
outlook for the future was hopeful. 



CHAPTER XX 
PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 

Prior to a consideration of the four years which pre- 
cede the most important epoch in the nation's history and 
those events which presage the terrible calamity of civil 
war, it is well briefly to review the administrations 
referred to as the one-term rule of lesser men between the 
great presidents, Jackson and Lincoln. 

Jackson set an iron heel upon the doctrine of nullifica- 
tion and stamped out that state-rights heresy. His suc- 
cessor, Martin Van Buren, encountered a financial gale 
that shipwrecked his hope for a second term. Harrison's 
successor, Tyler, and the next regularly elected President, 
Polk, were both southern men, and by their efforts fur- 
thered the plans of the South for the extension of slavery, 
by pressing on the Mexican War. By the time of Taylor's 
inauguration, the South was again threatening secession, 
as in Jackson's day, and Clay's measure, the Compromise 
of 1850, was an attempt to pacify both sections, by admit- 
ting California, with her free Constitution, as the North 
demanded, and by defeating the Wilmot Proviso, as a 
concession to the South. President Taylor, though a 
southern slave-holder, was not afraid to call secession 
treason. His death placed Fillmore, who was able, hon- 
est and conservative, in the Executive Chair. He signed 
the Compromise, but the Fugitive Slave Law aroused 
such deep resentment throughout the North that Fill- 

335 



336 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857 

more's reputation suffered in consequence. He un- 
doubtedly believed, as did Webster, that the Compromise 
would avert a terrible catastrophe. 

Franklin Pierce was a northern man, but owned and 
controlled by the slave power which became, day by day, 
more arrogant and ambitious : and we are now to find 
another northern President — Buchanan, equally subservi- 
ent to the same influence. Slavery, in Jackson's day a 
local institution, had now become of national importance. 
Upon this question the country was divided into North 
and South by an almost geographical line. The South 
stood triumphant, with its candidate in the Executive 
Chair, but mindful of Fremont's popular vote, it an- 
nounced its determination to secede from the Union, 
should the North ever elect a Black Republican to the 
Presidency. To such a pass had slavery brought a na- 
tion, the most prosperous and democratic in the world ! 

Blaine, in his book Tzvcnty Years in Congress, thus 
explains the situation : "If the slave-holders could main- 
tain their supremacy in the Union, they would prefer to 
remain. If they were to be out-voted, and, as they 
thought, outraged by free-state majorities, then they 
would break up the Government and form a Confederacy 
of their own . . . The design was audacious, but from 
the standpoint of the men who were committed to it, it 
was not illogical. Their entire industrial system was 
founded upon an institution which was bitterly opposed 
in the free States. They could see no way, and they no 
longer desired to see a way, by which they might rid 
themselves of the servile labor which was at once their 
strength and their weakness. To abandon the institution 
was to sacrifice four thousand millions of property spe- 
cially protected by law. It was for the existing genera- 
tion of the governing class in the South to vote them- 



i8s7] DRED SCOTT DECISION 337 

selves into bankruptcy and penury. Far beyond this, it 
was, in their judgment, to bhght their land with igno- 
rance and indolence, to be followed by crime and anarchy. 
Their point of view was so radically different from that 
held by a large number of northern people that it left no 
common ground for action, — scarcely, indeed, an oppor- 
tunity for reasoning together. In the South, they saw 
and felt their danger, and they determined, at all hazards, 
to defend themselves against policies which involved the 
total destruction of their social and industrial fabric. 
They were not mere malcontents ; they were not pretend- 
ers ; they did not aim at small things ; they had ability 
and they had courage. They had determined upon mas- 
tery within the Union, or a Continental Empire outside 
of it." 

Slavery now received most important encouragement 
and assistance from an unexpected quarter — the United 
States Supreme Court. 

Dred Scott, of Missouri, was a negro slave, who ac- 
companied his master, a surgeon in the regular army, 
during his residence at the army post at Fort Snelling in 
Minnesota Territory. Returning to Missouri, after an 
absence of four years, he, with his wife and children, 
was sold to a new master. Thereupon Scott sued, in a 
St. Louis court, to obtain his freedom, alleging that his 
residence in a territory where slavery had been prohib- 
ited by the Missouri Compromise had made him of right 
a free man. The decision was in his favor ; but his owner 
appealed to a higher court, and obtained a reversal of 
the decree; and finally the case was carried before the 
United States Supreme Court, at Washington. That 
body consisted then, as now, of a Chief- Justice and eight 
associates. Five of these men were from the slave States, 
The names of Taney and Curtis arise at any mention of 



338 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857 

this famous case. Chief-Justice Taney belonged to an 
old Maryland family. He was a man of broad culture 
and pure life; a clear thinker, with an accurate knowl- 
edge of law. He had been Attorney-General under 
Jackson and by him appointed a Justice of the Supreme 
Court. Upon the death of Chief-Justice Marshall, Jack- 
son further honored Taney by advancing him to the 
vacant position, in 1836, and he presided over the Court 
until 1864, a period of twenty-eight years. 

Justice Curtis was a cultivated Bostonian, of pure and 
upright life, a graduate of Harvard, and an impartial 
judge, of whom it was said: " His reasoning was clear 
to laymen and a delight to lawyers." 

Taney and Curtis were the chief exponents of the con- 
flicting opinions of the Court, when, on March 6th, two 
days after Buchanan's inauguration, a decision was 
finally rendered in the case of Dred Scott. The negro, 
battling for freedom, became of slight importance in 
comparison with the political and constitutional argu- 
ments for which he served as a pretext. The principal 
question related to his assumption of citizenship, as evi- 
denced by his suing in a court of law. Could a negro, 
whose ancestors had been sold as slaves, become a citizen 
of one of the States of the Union? If not, then Dred 
Scott had no standing in a United States Court, and must 
be remanded to slavery. Chief- Justice Taney delivered 
the opinion of a majority of the Court, and answered: 
" No." 

" Negroes were not intended to be included under the 
word ' citizen ' in the Constitution, and can therefore 
claim none of the rights and privileges which that instru- 
ment provides for and secures to citizens of the United 
States. On the contrary, they were at that time consid- 
ered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings, who 



i8s7] CHIEF-JUSTICE TANEY'S ARGUMENT 339 

had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether 
emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their author- 
ity, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who 
held the power and the Government might choose to 
grant them ... It is not the province of the Court to 
decide the justice or injustice of these laws. . . The deci- 
sion of that question belongs. . .to those who framed the 
Constitution. . . In the opinion of the Court neither the 
class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor 
their descendants, whether they had become free or not, 
were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor 
intended to be included in the general words used in that 
memorable instrument . . . They had, for more than a 
century before, been regarded as beings of an inferior 
order and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, 
either in social or political relations ; and so far inferior 
that they had no rights zvhich the ivhite man zvas bound 
to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully 
be reduced to slavery, for his benefit. He was bought 
and sold, and treated as an ordinary article of merchan- 
dise and traffic . . . The Constitution, therefore, did not 
acknowledge that race as belonging to the ' people of the 
United States.' On the adoption of the Constitution the 
right of naturalization was, with one accord, surrendered 
by the States, and confided to the Federal Government 
...and no law of a State, passed since the Constitution 
was adopted, can give any right of citizenship outside of 
its own territory." 

Having decreed, in the name of the Court, that Dred 
Scott could not sue at his bar, having no rights of citizen- 
ship, there was really nothing further to consider. But 
pressure had been brought to bear upon the southern 
judges, who, though honest and upright men, were yet 
susceptible to the pro-slavery influences of their environ- 



340 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857 

ment. It had been represented to them that to affirm, 
by a decision of the highest tribunal, the principles of 
" popular sovereignty " in the territories, would set at 
rest all discussion of the vexed question. Chief-Justice 
Taney was induced to believe that the Court had now 
the power and opportunity of settling the slavery ques- 
tion; so he and the southern judges added a political 
argument and decision, where a judicial decree alone was 
called for. Dred Scott had based his claim for freedom 
upon the fact of residence in territory made free by the 
Missouri Compromise of 1820. The Court now pro- 
ceeded to rule upon the question : " Was Congress au- 
thorized to pass the Missouri Compromise Act, under 
any of the powers granted to it by the Constitution ? " 
The Chief- Justice stated that the Louisiana purchase had 
been acquired for the common benefit of the people of 
the United States. It is guaranteed in an amendment to 
the Constitution that no person shall be deprived of his 
property without due process of law. " The right of 
property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in 
the Constitution of the United States," " No word can 
be found in the Constitution which gives Congress a 
greater power over slave property, or which entitles 
property of that kind to less protection than property of 
any other description." This adroit argument concluded 
thus : " It is the opinion of the Court that the act of Con- 
gress, which prohibited a citizen from holding and own- 
ing property of this kind in the territory of the United 
States, north of the line therein mentioned, is not war- 
ranted by the Constitution, and is therefore void." A 
natural inference from this conclusion was that the Con- 
stitution granted the right and power to hold slaves any- 
where within the Union. The decision, as rendered by 
Chief-Justice Taney, received the assent of two-thirds 



i857] JUSTICE CURTIS' ARGUMENT 341 

of the Court. Curtis and McLean dissented from the 
opinion given, and the following is a brief quotation 
from Curtis's able argument. In reply to the assertion 
that " no person of African descent, whose ancestors 
were sold as slaves in the United States, can be a citizen 
of the United States," he said : " Citizens of the United 
States, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, 
can have been no other than citizens of the United States 
under the Confederation." " At the time of the ratifica- 
tion of the Articles of Confederation, all free, native- 
born inhabitants of the States of New Hampshire, Mas- 
sachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina, 
though descended from African slaves, were not only 
citizens of those States, but such of them as had the 
other necessary qualifications possessed the franchise of 
electors on equal terms with other citizens." They 
" were not only included in the body of ' the people of the 
United States, by whom the Constitution was ordained 
and established, but, in at least five of the States, they 
had the power to act, and doubtless did act, by their 
suffrages, upon the question of its adoption." That fact 
would appear to settle the point beyond doubt, for the 
ballot is the insignia of citizenship. By this conclusion, 
the negro could not only be classed as a citizen, but was 
entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizenship 
under the law. 

In considering the power of Congress to prohibit 
slavery in the territories, Justice Curtis cited many in- 
stances to prove that Congress had, since the time of 
Washington, exercised such jurisdiction. After every 
phase of the subject had been discussed, he stated his 
opinion that the acts of Congress, which had prohibited 
slavery in the territories, including the Missouri Com- 
promise, " were constitutional and valid laws." 



342 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857 

In the Supreme Court, as in all other bodies, the 
majority rules, and Chief- Justice Taney had pronounced 
the law. Rhodes says : *' Taney sinned as a Judge. He 
is not to be blamed for embracing the political notions 
of .. .Calhoun; his environment gave that shape to his 
thoughts; but he does deserve censure because he al- 
lowed himself to make a political argument, when only 
a judicial decision was called for." 

The South was now jubilant, for had not the whole 
question of slavery been settled in their favor? The 
highest tribunal had declared that slaves were as much 
entitled to protection as any other species of property, 
and that it was unconstitutional for Congress to decree 
freedom for a territory of the United States. What 
more could the slave power desire? Meanwhile, the 
North was filled with scorn and indignation. But more 
unfortunate than all else was the blow dealt the popular 
confidence in the integrity of the Supreme Court. 

When the nominations for Buchanan's Cabinet were 
made known, the North realized that they had little to 
expect from the new administration. Lewis Cass, of 
Michigan, was made Secretary of State ; Howell Cobb of 
Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury; John B. Floyd of 
Virginia, Secretary of War ; Isaac Toucey of Connecti- 
cut, Secretary of the Navy; Jacob Thompson of Missis- 
sippi, Secretary of the Interior; Aaron V. Brown of 
Tennessee, Postmaster-General ; and Jeremiah S. Black 
of Pennsylvania, Attorney-General. Of the seven men, 
four were from slave States, and two of the three northern 
men were well-known to be southern sympathizers. But 
the Republicans, though defeated, rallied in support of 
their anti-slavery principles. They circulated copies of 
Justice Curtis's opinion, and felt that his arguments had 
entirely refuted those of the Chief- Justice. Stephen A. 



i8s7] LINCOLN REPLIES TO DOUGLAS 343 

Douglas, the popular leader of the Democracy, made 
Taney's argument familiar on the stump, and twenty 
thousand copies of the opinion were printed, by order of 
the United States Senate. 

In June, 1857, Abraham Lincoln replied to Douglas 
in a public speech. Asserting that the condition of the 
black man was now worse than at the time of the Decla- 
ration of Independence and the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion, he said : " In those days, our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was held sacred by all and thought to include 
all ; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the negro 
universal and eternal, it is assailed and sneered at, and 
construed and hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers 
could rise from their graves, they would not at all rec- 
ognize it. Douglas finds the Republicans insisting that 
the Declaration of Independence includes all men, black 
and as well as white ; and forthwith he boldly denies 
that it includes negroes at all, and proceeds to argue 
gravely that all who contend it does, do so only because 
they want to vote, and eat, and sleep and marry with the 
negroes. Now I protest against the counterfeit logic 
which concludes that, because I do not want a black 
woman for a slave, I must necessarily want her for a 
wife. I need not have her for either; I can just leave 
her alone. In some respects, she is certainly not my 
equal ; but in her natural right to eat the bread she earns 
with her own hands, without asking leave of any one 
else, she is my equal and the equal of all others." At the 
present time the amalgamation question may seem rather 
absurd, but in the heated political discussions of that 
day it was quite usual for a Black Republican to be 
asked : " Do you wish your daughter to marry a negro ? " 

There were three minor causes which had an important 
influence upon public opinion during the administration 



344 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [i&s? 

of Buchanan. These were the panic of 1857, the renewed 
efforts of the South to obtain possession of Cuba, and 
their attempt to re-open the foreign slave trade. 

The panic of 1857 was caused by an unstable banking 
system ; excessive speculation ; over-investment, particu- 
larly in the building of railways ; and an inflated credit. 
It was said : " The West owed the East, the interior owed 
the Atlantic seaboard, and the Atlantic seaboard owed 
Europe." There were the usual results following a 
severe panic. Thousands of men were thrown out of 
employment, and the distress was deep and widespread. 
However innocent of occasioning business depression, the 
administration in power is always blamed for the " hard 
times." Buchanan, in his annual message, December, 
1858, requested an appropriation for the purchase of 
Cuba, and Senator Slidell promptly introduced a bill to 
furnish the President with $30,000,000 for that purpose. 
Spain naturally was astonished and indignant at this 
proposal and declared it an insult, while the Cortes, amid 
enthusiastic cheers, unanimously voted " to support the 
Government in preserving the integrity of the Spanish 
domain." The prospect of a foreign war did not deter 
the Senate from attempting to pass the Slidell bill, and 
a bitter wrangle ensued. Northern Senators plainly ex- 
pressed their contempt and hatred of this new attempt at 
slavery extension, while southern Senators retorted with 
equal heat and much jingo sentiment. Finding that 
there was no possibility of passing the bill through the 
House, it was withdrawn. 

The South, at this time, was very prosperous. Im- 
mense crops demanded an increase of laborers. The 
price of negroes rose rapidly and became extravagant, 
and longing eyes were turned to Africa, whence a con- 
stant supply of cheap labor could be obtained, did not 



i86o] MR. GAULDEN ON THE NEGRO 345 

the stringent laws against the foreign slave trade prevent. 
As it was, negroes were extensively smuggled into the 
country, for " Slavers " crept into southern harbors and 
landed their wretched freight, the authorities being con- 
veniently blind to this violation of the law. The press of 
that section began to openly advocate the repeal of the 
laws prohibiting the African slave trade, and at state 
conventions and other large political meetings resolutions 
to the same effect were presented. It was asserted that 
the South had as much right to obtain from Africa the 
labor suited to her peculiar conditions as the North had 
to encourage immigration from Europe, whereby she 
gained farm-hands and factory operatives. Mr. Gaulden, 
of Georgia, said before the Charleston Convention, in 
i860, in a speech which was extensively circulated at the 
North : " I am one of those southern men who believe 
that slavery is right, morally, religiously, socially and po- 
litically. I believe that the institution of slavery has done 
more for this country, more for civilization, than all other 
interests put together. . . I would ask my friends of the 
South to come up in a proper spirit, ask our northern 
friends to give us all our rights, take off the ruthless re- 
strictions which cut off the supply of slaves from foreign 
lands . . . That African slave trade . . . goes to Africa 
and brings a heathen and worthless man here, makes him 
a useful man, christianizes him, and sends him and his 
posterity down the stream of time to enjoy the blessings 
of civilization ... I believe that the African slave-trader 
is a true missionary and a true Christian." It is some- 
what surprising to find slavery, like abolitionism, assert- 
ing a moral claim. An African slave-trader, as a Chris- 
tian missionary, is a unique figure among the world's 
propagandists. 

We are now to read the last page in the Kansas con- 



346 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857 

flict, and shall find Stephen A. Douglas, whose doctrine 
of " popular sovereignty " had created the difficulty, vot- 
ing with the Republicans against the associates of a life- 
time. What had occasioned, within so brief a period, 
this surprising change of policy, in the great Democratic 
leader? The explanation is found in an account of the 
struggle over the Lecompton Constitution. Buchanan 
had appointed, as Governor of Kansas, Robert J. Walker, 
an able and upright man, long identified with Mississippi, 
though of northern birth. He went to his post, deter- 
mined to see fair play and to enforce what he considered 
the true construction of the Kansas-Nebraska Act — the 
submission of the people to any Constitution framed by 
the majority. Walker was a Democrat, and would have 
preferred that Kansas should be a slave State, but he was 
a fair-minded man and soon realized that the free-state 
party greatly outnumbered the pro-slavery contingent. 
Shortly after his arrival there was an election for del- 
egates to attend a convention, called for the purpose of 
framing a state Constitution. Governor Walker urged 
upon all citizens the necessity of voting, but the free- 
state men, disheartened by their previous experience, de- 
termined to reject this sensible advice. In consequence, 
pro-slavery delegates were elected, who met at Lecomp- 
ton in June, 1857, but adjourned until the autumn. As 
the months passed, the free-state party became convinced 
of the Governor's honesty of purpose, and they partic- 
ipated in the October election for members of the legis- 
lature, with the result that the free-state party carried 
the day by a large majority, elected the delegate to Con- 
gress and a large proportion of the legislature. There 
were two attempts at fraud. In one district, called Ox- 
ford, containing but eleven houses and less than fifty 
voters, 1,624 pro-slavery votes were returned. It was 



i8s7] LECOMPTON CONVENTION 347 

afterward discovered that the names of these mythical 
voters had simply been copied, in alphabetical order, 
from an old Cincinnati directory. Another district, which 
had not twenty voters, reported the liberal allowance of 
1,266 pro-slavery votes. Such glaring frauds aroused 
the indignation of the Governor, and he promptly threw 
out the returns. There was no doubt that the State 
of Kansas was overwhelmingly in favor of freedom, and 
this was not only highly displeasing to the South, but to 
the President and the Cabinet as well. Governor Walker, 
who had acted honestly by the people, was now made 
to feel this displeasure, and in consequence resigned his 
office after seven months' incumbency. The adjourned 
Lecompton Convention met in October, and proceeded to 
draft a state Constitution in the interest of slavery, but 
not venturing to submit the Constitution to the people, 
which would be simply to invite defeat, they hit upon a 
clever device. They decreed that the people were to 
vote upon the Constitution with slavery, or the Constitu- 
tion without slavery ; no one could vote against the Con- 
stitution. The reason for this was apparent ; the Con- 
stitution contained a clause, which stated that " the right 
of property in slaves now in this territory shall in no 
measure be interfered with '' ; so that the Constitution 
with no slavery would make that institution perpetual, 
as to slaves then in the territory and their offspring. 
The Charleston Mercury correctly understood the situa- 
tion, when it remarked of the slavery clause : " Whether 
it is voted out, or voted in, slavery exists, and has a 
guarantee in the Constitution that it shall not be inter- 
fered with." One writer remarks : " The alternative 
presented was like submitting to the ancient test of witch- 
craft... If the accused, upon being thrown into deep 
water, floated, he was adjudged guilty, taken out and 



348 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1857 

hanged; but if he sank and was drowned, he was ad- 
judged not guilty, — the choice between the verdicts being 
quite immaterial." 

The Lecompton Convention appointed December 21, 
1857, election day. The indignant free-state men re- 
fused to vote, and clamored for another election, at which 
the Constitution, as a whole, should be submitted to the 
people. In compliance with this demand, the legislature 
appointed an election to be held January 4, 1858. The 
returns are interesting. At the December election, they 
stood : For the Constitution, with slavery, 6,226 ; for the 
Constitution, without slavery, 569. Investigation showed 
that 2,820 of these votes were fraudulent. At the Jan- 
uary election the vote stood : For the Constitution with 
slavery, 138; for the Constitution without slavery, 24; 
against the Constitution, 10,226. When the trickery of 
the Lecompton Constitution became known, there was 
great indignation throughout the North, and this was 
soon expressed upon the floor of the Senate. The Le- 
compton Constitution had been promptly forwarded to 
the President, and in his annual message, December 8, 
1857, it was warmly endorsed, the arguments brought 
forward being based upon the principles promulgated in 
the Dred Scott decision. On the following day, Douglas 
took occasion to reply, and most severely denounced the 
Lecompton scheme. " Neither the North, nor the South," 
he said, " has the right to gain a sectional advantage by 
trickery or fraud. . . If Kansas wants a slave-state Con- 
stitution, she has a right to it. If she wants a free-state 
Constitution, she has a right to it. It is none of my busi- 
ness which way the slavery clause is decided. I care not 
whether it is voted down, or voted up. . . Have a fair 
election, and you will have peace in the Democratic party 
and peace throughout the country, in ninety days. The 



1858] THE LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION 349 

people want a fair vote. They will never be satisfied 
without it." He declared that the plan of the Lecompton 
election would be as fair as that attributed to Napoleon, 
when he said to his troops : " Now, my soldiers, you are 
to go to the election and vote freely, just as you please. 
If you vote for Napoleon, all is well ; vote against him, 
and you are to be instantly shot." " That was a fair 
election ! This election is to be equally fair," exclaimed 
Douglas ; and he added : " If this Constitution is to be 
forced down our throats, in violation of the free prin- 
ciples of free Government, under a mode of submission 
that is a mockery and insult, I will resist it to the last." 
Douglas' attitude created great excitement. The south- 
ern Democrats and northern pro-slavery men of that 
party were furious against him ; his old opponents, the 
Republicans, greatly pleased. 

During an animated interview with the President, Bu- 
chanan told him " to remember that no Democrat ever 
yet differed from an administration of his own choice 
without being crushed." " Mr. President," Douglas re- 
torted, " I wish you to remember that General Jackson 
is dead." After that, it was open war. Douglas was a 
man of honor, and was indignant that the principles of 
popular sovereignty, to which he stood pledged, should 
be thus ruthlessly violated. 

When the result of the election of December 21 was 
ascertained, the pro-slavery party proclaimed the Le- 
compton Constitution zvifh slavery adopted, and on Feb- 
ruary 2, 1858, Buchanan submitted it to Congress with 
a special message favoring the admission of Kansas as 
a State, under the Constitution presented. A hot debate 
followed. Jefferson Davis ably represented the extreme 
section of the South. He said : " We are arraigned day 
after day as the aggressive power. What southern Sen- 



350 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1858 

ator, during the whole session, has attacked any portion 
or any interest of the North ? In what have we, now or 
ever, back to the earliest period of our history, sought to 
deprive the North of any advantage it possessed? The 
whole charge is, and has been, that we seek to extend 
our own institutions into the common territory of the 
United States." 

Douglas now fought on the anti-slavery side, and 
traitor and renegade were terms that but mildly expressed 
the resentment of his former friends and allies. But the 
West enthusiastically supported him, and the East ad- 
mired his courage and acknowledged his great ability. 
In spite of his splendid generalship, the bill passed the 
Senate on March 2t„ 1858, by a vote that stood ^^ to 25. 
Douglas of course voted with the Republicans, as did two 
other Democrats. The bill went to the House, where 
it occasioned active hostilities. During an all-night ses- 
sion, a slightly intoxicated Congressman designated a 
brother Representative as a " Black Republican Puppy," 
and in the contention that followed, some thirty members 
engaged in a battle royal on the floor of the House, thus 
demonstrating, to their own satisfaction, their superiority 
to the animal mentioned. No one was injured, but such 
an encounter was not particularly soothing to over-ex- 
cited feeling, nor especially dignified in a national as- 
sembly. As no agreement could be reached, on April i, 
1858, an amendment was offered, which provided that 
the Lecompton Constitution should be submitted to a vote 
of the people of Kansas. If assented to, Kansas should 
become a State on the proclamation of the President; if 
rejected, the inhabitants of the territory were empowered 
to form a Constitution and state Government. This 
promised a just settlement of the question, and it was 
adopted by the House. But the Senate would not ac- 



i86i] KANSAS ADMITTED TO THE UNION 351 

cept it, and asked for a committee of conference. This 
committee presented what is known as the EngHsh Bill, 
an infamous compromise proposed by William H, Eng- 
lish, a Representative from Indiana. This was agreed 
to, passed both Houses, and was signed by the President. 
Douglas voted against it. The English Bill offered to 
Kansas a large grant of Government lands, and the ac- 
ceptance or rejection of these lands was to be voted on 
by the people of the territory. If a majority voted for 
acceptance, Kansas was to be admitted into the Union, 
under the Lecompton Constitution, by proclamation of 
the President. If the people rejected the land grant, then 
Kansas could not be admitted as a State until her popu- 
lation equalled the ratio required for a Representative 
in Congress, which at that time was 94,000. This dis- 
honorable and degrading bill, which was soon dubbed 
" Lecompton, Jr.," was a gigantic bribe to the harassed 
people of that territory. The election was ordered for 
August 3, 1858, and the Kansas citizens, by a majority 
of 9,500, refused the land grant and the Lecompton Con- 
stitution, electing to remain outside the Union until they 
could honorably enter it. 

The free-state party, now confident of ultimate suc- 
cess, called a convention to meet at Wyandotte, in March, 
1859. A free-state Constitution was there framed, sub- 
mitted to the people, at an election held in the following 
October, and ratified by 4,000 majority. This Constitu- 
tion was presented to Congress in February, i860, ac- 
companying a bill for the admission of Kansas as a State. 
The House voted to admit, but the Senate refused. In 
1861 she again applied for statehood, and on the day that 
Jefferson Davis and his southern colleagues abandoned 
their seats in the Senate, to take part in rebellion against 
the Government, Kansas was voted into the Union, a free 



352 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1861 

State (January 29, 1861). No other State, before or 
since, ever experienced such difficulty in entering the 
Federal bond. 

There now rises into national prominence a man, des- 
tined for all time to be the hero of this epoch. We are 
all familiar with the tall, awkward figure, the plain fea- 
tures, the intensely sad face of Abraham Lincoln. We 
have all read of his early struggles with poverty; his 
rail-splitting, store-keeping, and work as a IMississippi 
boatman. We know how he labored to gain an educa- 
tion and a knowledge of law, and that he never studied 
an English grammar until he was past twenty-one. \\'ho 
shall say that romance is dead, the life of our day com- 
monplace, when this man of the people could step for- 
ward and carry for four years the weight of a nation 
upon his shoulders, as Atlas of old upheld the earth? 
Through days of doubt and gloom, of defeat and of 
victory, he ever displayed a true patriotism and an ele- 
vated statesmanship that command the admiration of 
the world. His address at Gettysburg and his second 
inaugural address are considered masterpieces of Eng- 
lish prose. Through the lucid thought, the pure English 
and the beauty of expression, shine the moral grandeur, 
the tenderness of the man, and to these the great heart 
of America responded. 

We shall only consider this great American in that 
short but glorious career for which up to this date, 1858, 
his whole life had been a preparation. He had become 
a well-known lawyer in his own State, had served in the 
Legislature, and for one term in Congress, when he gained 
a national reputation through the Lincoln-Douglas de- 
bates (1858). Douglas' term as Senator was about to 
expire, and Lincoln was put forward by the Republicans 
to contest his reelection. Botli men determined to stump 



1S58] LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 353 

the State of Illinois as Senatorial candidates. During 
this canvass were held seven joint debates, each restricted 
to three hours' time, divided between the contestants. As 
no hall could possibly accommodate the thousands of 
eager listeners, the debates were held in the afternoons, 
out-of-doors, in a grove or upon the prairie. The burn- 
ing question of the day — slavery, was the only subject 
considered, and thus the great audience who listened, and 
the still greater audience to whom the press reported the 
proceedings, received a political education seldom obtain- 
able. Lincoln's first speech was a bold utterance. Here 
at last Avas a man who had the courage of his convictions, 
and dared to put into words that which far-seeing men 
were beginning to recognize, but were loath to admit. 
He said : " 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' 
I believe this Government cannot endure permanently 
half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to 
be dissolved ; I do not expect the House to fall ; but I 
do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all 
one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of 
slavery will arrest the future spread of it, and place it 
where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is 
in course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push 
it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, 
old as well as new, north as well as south." Again, 
in one of the debates, he said : " It is the eternal 
struggle between these two principles — right and wrong 
— throughout the world. They are the two principles 
that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, 
and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the com- 
mon right of humanity, and the other the Divine right 
of kings. It is the same principle, in whatever shape it 
develops itself. It is the same spirit that says : * You 
work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter 



354 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1859 

in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a 
king, who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation 
and Hve by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of 
men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the 
same tyrannical principle." Four months later, William 
H. Seward, in an address at Rochester, New York (Oc- 
tober 25, 1858), forcibly expressed the same idea in a 
sentence that became famous : " It is an irrepressible 
conflict." 

Douglas, although he had voted with the Republicans 
in opposition to the Lecompton Constitution, did not do 
so to oppose the extension of slavery, but because he 
was ever faithful to the principles of his Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill. As Lincoln and Douglas thrust and par- 
ried, this marvelous fencing-match was watched with 
deepest interest by the nation. The prize was awarded 
by the legislature in the following January. Douglas 
received every Democratic vote — 54, and Lincoln every 
Republican vote — 46. Douglas was therefore returned 
to the United States Senate, but Lincoln, though de- 
feated, had become a prospective candidate of the Repub- 
lican party for the Presidency. 

In the autumn of 1859 occurred a most extraordinary 
episode. American history has not lacked political sen- 
sations, but there has been nothing more dramatic than 
John Brown's invasion of Virginia. John Brown was 
a native of Connecticut, but passed his youth and early 
manhood in Ohio. He gained sufficient knowledge of 
slavery in that border State to make him an abolitionist 
at the age of twelve when " he swore eternal war on 
slavery." This early vow was faithfully kept, although 
many years were to pass before he could strike a direct 
blow. ]\Ieanwhile he became a tanner, a land surveyor, 
a lumber dealer and a wool-grower. Twice married, he 



1 859] JOHN BROWN 355 

was the father of nineteen children. His failure in the 
wool trade appears to have cleared the way for his life 
work, for after that disaster he retired to North Elba, 
New York, where Gerritt Smith, the philanthropist, had 
set apart a portion of his extensive property as a settle- 
ment for free colored people. John Brown decided to 
go with his family and live among these negroes as a 
friend and adviser. It was in this Adirondack retreat 
that news was received of the Kansas Conflict. Four 
of Brown's sons had settled in that unfortunate territory. 
Rifle in hand, he went to their assistance and engaged 
actively in an offensive campaign against the pro-slavery 
roughs and their allies, the border ruffians from Mis- 
souri. He became a grim figure amid those lurid scenes 
and suffered deeply for the cause of freedom ; his house 
was burned to the ground ; one of his sons was crippled 
for life, the result of a wound ; another was taken pris- 
oner and rendered insane by the treatment received from 
his captors ; and his son Frederick was murdered and 
his mutilated body left lying by the road-side, where his 
father discovered it, some eighteen hours afterward. 
The massacre at Pottawatomie Creek, when five pro- 
slavery men were taken from their homes and murdered 
by a party of free-state men under the command of John 
Brown, has given rise to extreme censure. But there 
are those among John Brown's devoted champions who 
defend the deed as an act of just though awful retribu- 
tion, and declare that this repayment in kind had a sal- 
utary effect. 

It is strikingly significant, however, of the character 
of John Brown that a desire for revenge or retaliation 
for his own sufferings is never imputed to him. What 
manner of man is this, who can be thus judged? His 
is the most enigmatical character in American political 



356 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1859 

history. He was of strict integrity, pure life, singular 
courage and iron will. He was ever dominated by two 
powerful influences — hatred of slavery, and an intense 
religious conviction. He believed in the literal inter- 
pretation of the Scriptures, with a sternness of faith 
equal to that of his Puritan ancestors, who cut off the 
ears of Quakers to the glory of God. It has been said 
that " perverted Calvinistic philosophy is the key which 
unlocks the mystery of Brown's life and deeds." And 
yet this singular man did not lack tenderness ; he was 
a kind father, and gentle to the afflicted. Von Hoist 
says : " If there was a sect of Christianity who adopted 
equally the gospel of love of the New Testament and 
the stern severity of the Old Testament spirit in all its 
terrible grandeur, the Puritans were that sect ; and if 
ever a Puritan exemplified the welding together of these 
opposite principles, in his whole life and in each and 
every act, John Brown was that Puritan." Unless we 
remember his profound conviction that he was an in- 
strument in the hands of God, we must regard his inva- 
sion of Virginia as the act of a madman. But John 
Brown was not mad ; he was perfectly sane, though an 
extreme fanatic. 

The Kansas Conflict ended, he determined to strike 
a decisive blow at slavery, and matured his plans for 
the Virginia raid. What did he hope to accomplish by 
this insane act? "To free the slaves," he always as- 
serted. To again quote Von Hoist : " John Brown ac- 
tually expected that the raid on Harper's Ferry would 
be the stroke with which Moses called forth water from 
the rock. The spring was to turn southward, and in its 
swift course to swell to a mighty river. . . Emancipa- 
tion was to be spread farther and farther. . . Heaven 
itself could not have brought this about, unless it had 



i8s9] RAID ON HARPER'S FERRY 357 

sent the angel of judgment to cast down into the dust 
the whole white population from Florida to Maine. Upon 
recovering from the stupefaction of the first alarm, the 
white population of the South would have risen as one 
man to force the slave back into the yoke, and the North, 
with the exception of a handful of the most radical 
Abolutionists, would have helped the South with all its 
might . . . The blacks would have been crushed like 
tinder by their overwhelming force." 

This man, who belonged to Cromwell's day, rather 
than his own, on the evening of October 17, 1859, ^^~ 
companied by twenty-two men, five of whom were 
negroes, advanced upon Harper's Ferry. He surrounded 
the United States Arsenal, overpowered the guards, and 
soon was master of the situation. About one o'clock in 
the morning, the train from the West reached the rail- 
road bridge, and not seeing the customary signals, the 
engineer stopped to investigate. He was confronted by 
armed pickets. A parley with Brown followed, and the 
train was finally permitted to proceed. That act sealed 
his fate. In a few hours the news was known in Wash- 
ington, and before midnight state and federal troops sur- 
rounded Harper's Ferry. In the earlier hours of the day 
the little band could have retreated to the mountains, 
but they remained to be hemmed in and to make a brave 
resistance, though soon overcome. One of John Brown's 
sons was mortally wounded, and another fell dead at his 
father's side. Brown himself, badly hurt, was taken 
prisoner and lodged in the jail at Charlestown, Virginia. 
Governor Wise pressed on his trial in hot haste : day 
after day the wounded man, perfectly calm through all 
the trying scenes, was carried into court upon a pallet. 
He was found " guilty of treason and of conspiring and 
advising with slaves and others to rebel," and " of 



358 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1859 

murder in the first degree," and sentenced to be hanged 
on December 2, 1859, the first man to be executed for 
a poHtical crime in the United States. The North was 
deeply stirred by these events, the South lashed into fury. 
They declared that the raid was a Republican plot, but 
this was soon found to be false ; there was no conspiracy 
supporting this deluded old man ; no negro uprising fol- 
lowed ; the laws regarding slavery were as stringently 
administered as ever. 

Meanwhile the gaze of the world was concentrated 
upon that heroic figure in the jail at Charlestown, the 
man who had madly attempted the impossible, offering 
up his own life and the lives of his sons, a sacrifice for 
freedom. In his last letter to his wife and children, he 
wrote thus : " I am awaiting the hour of my public 
murder with great composure of mind and cheerfulness, 
feeling the strong assurance that in no other possible 
way could I be used to so much advantage to the cause 
of God and humanity, and that nothing that I or all my 
family have sacrificed or suffered will be lost. The re- 
flection that a wise and merciful, as well as just and 
holy God rules not only the affairs of this world, but of 
all worlds, is a rock to set our feet upon, under all cir- 
cumstances ... I have now no doubt but that our seem- 
ing disaster will ultimately result in the most glorious 
success. So, my dear shattered and broken family, be 
of good cheer, and believe and trust in God with all your 
heart and with all your soul, for He doeth all things well. 
Do not feel ashamed on my account, nor for one moment 
despair of the cause, or grow weary of well-doing. I 
bless God I never felt stronger confidence in the certain 
and near approach of a bright morning and glorious day 
than I have felt, and do now feel, since my confinement 
here. I am endeavoring to return, like a poor prodigal 



i8s9] LAST CONGRESS UNDER OLD REGIME 359 

as I am, to my Father, against whom I have always 
sinned, in the hope that He may kindly and forgivingly 
meet me, though a very great way off." 

Needless to add he died like a brave man, calm 
and serene to the last. A few days before the execution, 
a writer in the Independent asked: "What is it that 
will hang on the gallows, before the eyes of all men? 
Not John Brown, but slavery. . . John Brown, swing- 
ing on the gallows, will ring the knell of slavery." 
And so it was decreed. Within twenty months, North- 
ern regiments were marching to Southern battlefields, 
singing the popular refrain of the war : 

" John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, 
But his soul goes inarching on." 

Three days after the execution at Charlestown, the 
36th Congress met ; it was the last to assemble under the 
old regime. The members came together in a bitter and 
excited spirit, which was immediately made evident by 
unavailing efforts, extending over two months, to elect 
a Speaker. During this time, John Brown's raid, and a 
book entitled The Impending Crisis of the South; hozu 
to meet it, written by Hinton R. Helper, of North Caro- 
lina, gave rise to acrimonious accusations and bitter in- 
vective. Helper's Impending Crisis was an attempt to 
do for the poor whites of the South that which Mrs. 
Stowe's great book had accomplished for the negro, by 
showing how fatal to all progress among the poor whites 
was the system of negro slavery. Its recognition by 
Congress was owing to the fact that John Sherman, of 
Ohio, the Republican candidate for Speaker, had publicly 
endorsed the book. Congress remained in session until 
June 25, and Schouler thus describes its turbulent course : 
" Brawls and altercations still more violent . . . challenges 



360 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [i860 

to fight . . . ill-temper, bad blood, and the failure of use- 
ful and useless legislation alike." In the heated debates, 
threats of disunion were frequent. A Southern member 
stated : " I have this to say, and I speak the sentiments 
of every Democrat on the floor, from the State of 
Georgia. We will never submit to the inauguration of 
a Black Republican President. I repeat it, and I have 
authority to say so, that no Democratic Representative 
from Georgia will ever submit. They are for equality 
in the Union, or independence out of it." A member 
from Alabama declared : " Whenever a President is elected 
by a fanatical majority of the North, those whom I rep- 
resent are ready, let the consequences be what they may, 
to fall back on their reserved rights, and say : ' As to 
this Union, we have no longer any lot or part in it.' " 
And here is a still more vigorous utterance : " Gentle- 
men of the Republican party, I warn you. Present 
your sectional candidate in i860, elect him as the rep- 
resentative of your system of labor, take possession of 
the Government as your instrument in this irrepressible 
conflict, and we of the South will tear this Constitution 
to pieces, and look to our guns for justice and right, 
against aggression and wrong." In the Senate, equally 
extravagant and treasonable sentiments were constantly 
expressed. These Southern extremists were dubbed 
" fire-eaters." 

On the evening of February 27, i860, Abraham Lincoln 
delivered a great speech, in the large hall of the Cooper 
Union in New York City, before a brilliant audience 
and with William Cullen Bryant in the Chair. The 
next morning, the Tribune said : " Mr. Lincoln is one 
of Nature's orators, using his rare powers solely to 
elucidate and convince, though their inevitable effect is 
to delight and electrify as well . . . No man ever before 



i86o] LINCOLN'S COOPER-UNION SPEECH 361 

made such an impression on his first appeal to a New- 
York audience." 

In his clear, logical and impressive address Lincoln 
asked regarding the South : " What will satisfy them ? " 
and answered : " This, and this only : cease to call sla- 
very wrong, and join them in calling it right. And all 
this must be done thoroughly — done in acts as well as 
in words. . . We must arrest and return their fugitive 
slaves with greedy pleasure ; we must pull down our 
free-state Constitutions ; the whole atmosphere must be 
disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery before 
they will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed 
from us." And again he said : " All they ask we could 
readily grant, if we thought slavery right; all we ask 
they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong. 
Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the 
precise fact upon which depends the whole controversy. 
Thinking it right, as they do, they are not to blame for 
desiring its full recognition as being right ; but thinking 
it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them? Can we cast 
our votes for their view, and against our own ? In view 
of our moral, social and political responsibilities, can we 
do this? Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet af- 
ford to let it alone where it is, because that much is due 
to the necessity arising from its actual presence in the 
nation ; but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow 
it to spread into the National Territories, and to overrun 
us here, in the free States? If our sense of duty forbids 
this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effect- 
ively . . . Neither let us be slandered from our duty by 
false accusations against us nor frightened from it by 
menaces of destruction to the Government . . . Let us 
have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let 
us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it." 



362 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [i860 

The great political struggle between slavery and free- 
dom reached its culmination in the National Democratic 
Convention, which met at Charleston, South Carolina, 
on April 23, i860, to nominate a candidate for the 
Presidency. Stephen A, Douglas would have been the 
unquestioned choice of his party, had not his attitude 
during the struggle over the Lecompton Constitution 
angered the South. But this very fact — his loyalty to 
the principles of squatter sovereignty — made him the 
popular Democratic candidate of the North and West. 
It was a momentous occasion. Should a union be ef- 
fected between the Douglas forces and the Southern con- 
tingent, the re-united party would probably elect their 
candidate ; a division in their ranks was an assurance 
of Republican success. In that case, would the South 
fulfil her oft repeated threat to forcibly resist the rule 
of a Black Republican President? That question made 
thoughtful men throughout the country very anxious ; 
but the majority of Northern citizens did not contemplate 
so terrible a determination. The South had so often 
cried " Secession " that she now presented a striking anal- 
ogy to the boy in the fable who shouted " Wolf." 

In the Charleston Convention, the difficulty was, nat- 
urally, to agree upon a declaration of principles. The 
committee on resolutions, after five days of debate, re- 
ported their inability to agree upon a platform, and pre- 
sented a majority and a minority report. These both 
favored the acquisition of the Island of Cuba, and a 
strict enforcement of the fugitive-slave law. The point 
of divergence was the clause relating to slavery. The 
majority report, the Southern platform, declared that 
" neither Congress, nor a territorial legislature, had the 
power to prohibit slavery in the territories, nor impair 
the right of property in slaves by any legislation what- 



i86o] DEMOCRATIC PARTY RENT IN TWAIN 363 

ever; and that it was the duty of the Federal Govern- 
ment to protect that right." The minority report, the 
Douglas platform, re-affirmed the principles of popular 
sovereignty — that the people of a territory had the right 
to decide for themselves whether their State should be 
slave or free. William L. Yancey, of Alabama, was the 
animating spirit of the Convention. He was so amiable 
and smiling, and possessed so sweet a voice, that it was 
difficult to realize that he was the most ultra of fire- 
eaters. The debates were heated and there seemed no 
prospect of agreement. On April 30th, under the leader- 
ship of Yancey, the delegates from Alabama, Mississippi, 
South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Arkansas formally 
withdrew and organized a separate Convention, which, 
after four days, adjourned without making a nomination. 
The remaining delegates of the original Convention at- 
tempted to nominate Douglas, but the two-thirds rule 
preventing a choice, on May 3d they adjourned to meet 
at Baltimore on June i8th. They met, as appointed, but 
only to disagree again, and finally the entire delegations 
of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware and 
California, and a portion of the delegations of Maryland, 
Kentucky and Massachusetts withdrew. The Convention 
then adopted the minority platform offered at Charles- 
ton, and nominated Stephen A. Douglas for the Presi- 
dency, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for the Vice- 
Presidency. On June 23d, the delegates who had with- 
drawn from the two Conventions, met at Baltimore, 
adopted the majority platform presented at Charleston, 
and nominated John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for 
the Presidency, and General Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for 
the Vice-Presidency. The great Democratic party was 
split in twain. 

On May i6th, the Republican Convention had met 



364 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [i860 

at Chicago, in a sanguine mood, for their opponents' 
divided forces foretold the success of the new party. 
Their platform denounced disunion, Lecomptonism, the 
reopening of the African slave trade and the fallacy 
of popular sovereignty; advocated the immediate ad- 
mission of Kansas, and inserted a protection plank, 
which had the desired effect of bringing Pennsylvania, 
that stronghold of the protective policy, into the Re- 
publican ranks. The clause relating to slavery stated : 
" We deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial 
legislature, or of any individuals to give legal existence 
to slavery in any territory of the United States." On 
May 1 8th, the balloting commenced. Seward, that 
tried and able standard-bearer of his party, led on the 
first ballot, but it was soon evident that Lincoln would 
win. The doubtful States of Indiana and Illinois must 
be wrested from Douglas, and none other than he could 
successfully contest the Little Giant's popularity in his 
own State. On the third ballot Abraham Lincoln received 
364 votes, and was declared the candidate of the Republi- 
can party for President of the United States. As soon as 
the enthusiasm subsided, Mr. William M. Evarts, the 
leader of the Seward forces, moved to make the nomina- 
tion unanimous. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nomi- 
nated for the Vice-Presidency. 

There was still another ticket in this memorable cam- 
paign. The remnants of the Whigs and Know-Nothings 
had united to form a " Constitutional Union Party." 
They proposed to allay sectional strife, and ignored the 
question of slavery, declaring simply for the Constitution, 
the enforcement of the laws, and the union of the States. 
They nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for the Presi- 
dency, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, for the 
Vice-Presidency. It was feared that this party of con- 



i860] south CAROLINA SECEDES 365 

servatives might poll a sufficient vote to throw the elec- 
tion into the House of Representatives, but such was not 
the case, " Honest Abe, the rail-splitter," was a popular 
candidate, although he took no active part in the canvass. 
Douglas made an extended political tour, and did good 
service to his country, for he everywhere boldly pro- 
claimed that the Union must be maintained and the Con- 
stitution upheld. 

A picturesque feature of this campaign were the torch- 
light parades of the " Wide-Awake Clubs," where thou- 
sands of Republicans, each wearing a cape and cap of 
glazed or enamelled cloth and carrying a flaming torch, 
marched in procession. 

Abraham Lincoln received 180 electoral votes, Breck- 
enridge ^6, Bell 39 and Douglas 12. Although Douglas' 
electoral vote was small he received an immense popular 
vote. The Republicans failed to secure a majority in 
either House of Congress. 

The Black Republican was elected President and the 
South, fully prepared for this anticipated result, acted 
promptly. South Carolina, that hot-bed of disunion, 
made the first move to break up the Government of the 
United States. On November loth, four days after the 
Presidential Election, her legislature authorized the call- 
ing of a Convention of the people of the State. This Con- 
vention, on December 20, i860, unanimously passed an 
ordinance of secession. Great enthusiasm prevailed and 
fire-works, illuminations and palmetto flags, testified to 
the general joy. By the end of January, a like ordinance 
had been passed by the States of Georgia, Florida, Ala- 
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas ; and the Sena- 
tors and Representatives of these States had abandoned 
their seats in the Congress of the United States, after a 
final expression of their views, for the enlightenment of 



366 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1861 

the nation. The seceded States acted with forethought, 
as well as promptitude. They increased and drilled their 
militia, voted great sums for military purposes and has- 
tened to seize forts, arsenals and all other United States 
property within their borders. 

In February, delegates from the seven seceded States 
met in convention at Montgomery, Alabama, organized 
a government for the Confederate States of America, and 
elected as President and Vice-President of the new Con- 
federacy, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, and Alexander 
H. Stephens of Georgia. The latter, after the conven- 
tion, addressed a great meeting at Savannah (March 21, 
1861). Explaining the new Constitution, he said: "It 
has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating 
to our peculiar institution, African slavery. The founda- 
tions of our new Government are laid ; its corner-stone 
rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to 
the white man ; that slavery, subordination to the superior 
race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new 
Government, is the first in the history of the world, based 
upon this great physical, philosophical and moral truth." 
It is a curious fact that Stephens, three months previous, 
had made a strong Union speech, in an effort to prevent 
the secession of his State. In this address, before the 
legislature of Georgia, he endeavored to convince his 
hearers that they had little cause of complaint. He said : 
" Can either of you today name one governmental act of 
wrong deliberately and purposely done by the Government 
at Washington, of which the South has a right to complain ? 
When we of the South demanded the slave trade . . . did 
they not yield the right for twenty years? When we 
asked a three-fifths representation in Congress, for our 
slaves, was it not granted ? When we . . . demanded the 
return ... of those persons owing labor or allegiance, was 



i860] SPEECH OF ALEXANDER STEPHENS 367 

it not incorporated in the Constitution, and again ratified 
and strengthened by the fugitive-slave law of 1850?... 
Again. . .when we have asked that more territory should 
be added, that we might spread the institution of slavery, 
have they not yielded to our demands in giving us Louisi- 
ana, Florida and Texas, out of which four States have 
been carved and ample territory for four more, to be 
added in due time ? " In speaking of the Government, he 
declared : " We have always had the control of it, and 
can yet, if we remain in it, and are as united as we have 
been. We have had a majority of the Presidents chosen 
from the South, as zvcll as the control and management 
of most of those chosen from the North. We have had 
sixty years of Southern Presidents to their twenty- 
four . . . So, of the Judges of the Supreme Court, we have 
had eighteen from the South, and but eleven from the 
North . . . Speakers of the House we have had twenty- 
three to their twelve . . . Attorneys-General we have had 
fourteen, while the North have had five. Foreign Min- 
isters we have had eighty-six, and they but fifty-four. 
We have had a vast majority of the higher officers of 
the army and navy." He proceeded to show how greatly 
the interests of the South had been fostered by this in- 
equality, and concluded with these words : " Now for 
you to attempt to overthrow such a Government as this, 
under which we have lived for more than three-quarters 
of a century, in which we have gained our wealth, our 
standing as a nation, our domestic safety ... is the height 
of madness, folly and wickedness, to which I can neither 
lend my sanction, nor my vote." 

There were many throughout the South who depre- 
cated disunion, but the fire-eaters and their followers 
swept them into the tide of civil war, the intensity of 
their belief in state-rights weakening their power of re- 



368 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [i86o 

sistance. Alexander H. Stephens, an able lawyer and 
legislator, active, brave, upright, and austere as a Puri- 
tan, represented the finest type of the South, and, alas! 
her most extreme ideas upon the sacredness of slavery 
and the doctrine of state-rights. " If Georgia," he said, 
" should go out of the Union, ... I shall bow to the will 
of her people. Their cause is my cause, and their destiny 
is my destiny." 

Meanwhile the startled North was called to face an 
unexpected and terrible emergency. The peace sentiment 
was strong. On November 9 (i860) the New York 
Tribune said : " Whenever a considerable section of our 
Union shall deliberately resolve to go out, we shall resist 
all coercive measures designed to keep it in. We hope 
never to live in a Republic, whereof one section is pinned 
to the residue by bayonets." But this sentiment did not 
receive a hearty response, and the Tribune soon braced 
up to meet the issue in a more patriotic spirit. The mer- 
chants who saw trade stagnant and southern business 
houses repudiating their northern debts, endeavored, by 
their efforts for a compromise, to avert the impending 
disaster. Wendell Phillips said : " The saddest thing in 
the Union meetings was the constant presence. . .of the 
clink of coin, the whirr of spindles, the dust of trade." 
All turned in expectation to the Executive, only to behold 
a weak, vacillating old man, a puppet in southern hands, 
and with a Cabinet composed, in part, of traitors. On 
the assembling of Congress, in December, his anxiously- 
awaited message, after duly blaming the North for 
southern discontent, proceeded to give a fine-spun con- 
stitutional argument, to the effect that while secession 
was unlawful, a State could not be coerced into submis- 
sion. Seward wrote to his wife : " I think the President 
has conclusively proved two things: (i), that no State 



i860] CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE 369 

has the right to secede, unless it wishes to, and, (2), that 
it is the President's duty to enforce the laws, unless some- 
body opposes him." The message announced no policy, 
by which the laws should be upheld and the National 
Union preserved. What wonder the North cried : " O, 
but for one hour of General Jackson ! " 

Among the efforts for reconciliation was the Critten- 
den Compromise, presented in the Senate by the ven- 
erable and patriotic John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky. 
There were several propositions, but the most important 
was contained in the first clause. By this, the parallel 
36° 30', the Missouri Compromise line, was to be re- 
stored, and extended to the Pacific ; slavery was to be pro- 
hibited north of this line, and permitted south of it, in all 
territory then held, or thereafter acquired. This was to be 
made a constitutional amendment. A committee of thirteen 
Senators, representing all sections, was appointed, to " con- 
sider the grievances between the slaveholding and the non- 
slaveholding States." Among these distinguished men 
wereWilliam H. Sevv^ard and Jefferson Davis. They met on 
December 21st, and proceeded to consider the Crittenden 
Compromise. The first article, which made the Missouri 
Compromise line a constitutional amendment, was de- 
feated by the vote of the Republican members of the com- 
mittee, and all hope of an agreement was at an end. 
Nicolay thus explains their actions : " The Republican 
party, which had won the Presidential victory at the No- 
vember election, upon the distinct issue, ' no extension of 
slavery,' could not accept the proposition . . . They were 
compelled to insist that the South must submit to the 
legally expressed will of the majority. To recede from 
this was not only the destruction of the Republican party, 
it was the abandonment of Government." Another at- 
tempt to effect a reconciliation was the Peace Conven- 



370 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [i860 

tion. On January 19, 1861, the legislature of Virginia 
issued an invitation to the States to meet in Washington, 
on February 4th, to unite in an earnest effort to adjust 
the existing difficulties. This convention included dele- 
gates from twenty-one States, among these three of the 
South — North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. It 
finally presented to Congress a proposal which was vir- 
tually the first clause of the Crittenden Compromise. 
The Senate voted it down and the House refused to 
receive it. The House meanwhile had appointed a com- 
mittee of thirty-three and they offered another peace 
proposal. This was a 13th amendment to the Constitu- 
tion. It declared that no amendment to the Constitution 
should ever be made which interfered with or abolished 
slavery in any State. This passed the House and the 
Senate on March 3, 1861, and was probably the last 
official paper signed by Buchanan. It was transmitted 
to the several States and was never heard from again, 
being lost in the din of civil war. In 1865 a 13th amend- 
ment was added to the Constitution ; it prohibited slavery 
within the United States forever. 

While considering peace propositions, the Government 
neglected to prepare for defense, or to retain the advan- 
tages it possessed. In November, a small body of troops 
garrisoned Fort Moultrie, in the Harbor of Charleston. 
Their Commander, Major Robert Anderson, of Ken- 
tucky, was loyal to the Government in spite of his strong 
southern sympathies. The efforts of this brave officer 
to obtain reinforcements and tlie successful attempts of 
Cabinet traitors and southern emissaries to prevent the 
President from complying, make up a disgraceful page 
of national history. On December 26th, Anderson, on 
his own responsibility, quietly removed his force to Fort 
Sumter, which was a much stronger position. When, 



i86i] THE CABmET REORGANIZED 371 

early in January, supplies and troops were sent, they were 
despatched in a merchant steamer, instead of a war-ship, 
out of respect to southern sensibilities. As this vessel, 
the " Star of the West," approached Charleston Harbor, 
she was fired upon by southern batteries and thereupon 
returned to New York. The Sumter incident had the 
happy result of ridding the Cabinet of two traitors. John 
B. Floyd, Secretary of War, resigned because the Presi- 
dent refused to withdraw the garrison from Fort Sumter 
and surrender the fort to the State of South Carolina ; 
and Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, followed 
him, because troops had been sent to that fort in the 
" Star of the West." Howell Cobb having, by bad finan- 
ciering, nearly bankrupted the nation, resigned his posi- 
tion as Secretary of the Treasury, alleging that " a sense 
of duty to the State of Georgia made it impossible for 
him to remain in the Cabinet." Lewis Cass, Secretary 
of State, had been the first to withdraw, but, being a loyal 
man, the refusal of Buchanan to reinforce the forts in 
Charleston Harbor had occasioned his departure. 

By the middle of January, there was a decided im- 
provement in national affairs. Buchanan had reorgan- 
ized his Cabinet, and whereas he had been formerly led 
by secessionists, he was now dominated by men of integ- 
rity, ability and sound patriotism. The new members 
were Joseph Holt, Secretary of War ; John A. Dix, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury ; and Edwin M. Stanton, Attorney- 
General. Jeremiah S. Black, the former Attorney-Gen- 
eral, was made Secretary of State. Judge Black was an 
eminent lawyer of strict integrity, a man of fine literary 
attainments and a devout Christian. It has been said of 
him : " He applied to his own political faith the literal 
teachings of the Bible. If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 
had held slaves, without condemnation or rebuke from 



372 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1861 

the Lord of Hosts, he beHeved Virginia, CaroHna and 
Georgia might do the same." But notwithstanding his 
sympathy with slavery, he was loyal to the Government. 
John A. Dix soon thrilled the North by his famous tele- 
gram to a United States Treasury official at New Or- 
leans : "If any man attempts to haul down the American 
flag, shoot him on the spot." Among the extraordinary 
incidents of this winter of distress and turmoil, were the 
solemn farewell speeches in Congress of members depart- 
ing to engage in rebellion against the Government. 

A brief survey of public opinion, North and South, in 
the light of subsequent events, is most interesting. The 
South, with the exception of a few far-seeing men, did 
not expect the North to fight; she also counted on as- 
sistance from northern Democrats, but the mass of that 
party loyally supported the National Government. Doug- 
las, for the short space of life remaining to him, used his 
great influence in behalf of Lincoln and constantly pro- 
claimed : " Every man must be for the United States 
or against it ; there can be no neutrals in this war — only 
patriots and traitors." The South was again disappointed, 
in its expectation of foreign assistance. One of her 
Representatives had asserted, on the floor of the House : 
" Cotton is king. No power on earth can make war on it. 
What would happen if no cotton were furnished for three 
years ? . . . England would topple headlong, and carry 
the whole civilized world with her, save the South." 
When hostilities commenced, the southern ports were 
blockaded, and the " cotton famine " caused great dis- 
tress in English manufacturing centres ; but England had 
incessantly fought African slavery, and dared not prove 
recreant. She consistently refused to acknowledge a gov- 
ernment whose cornerstone was slavery. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, in a letter to Motley, dated 



i86i] LINCOLN'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS 373 

February 16, i86r, described the state of public feeling 
at the North : " From the impracticable Abolitionist . . . 
to the wretch who would sacrifice everything and beg 
the South's pardon for offending it, you find all shades 
of opinion in our streets. If Mr. Seward, or Mr. Adams, 
moves in favor of compromise, the whole Republican 
party sways, like a field of grain, before the breath of 
either of them. If Mr, Lincoln says he shall execute the 
laws and collect revenue, though the heavens cave in, the 
backs of the Republicans stiffen again, and they take 
down the old Revolutionary King's arms, and begin to 
ask whether they can be altered to carry Minie bullets." 
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated at Washington 
March 4, 1861. He was the sixteenth President of the 
United States and no other had faced so momentous a fu- 
ture. There were two distinct Governments within the 
once powerful and united nation; but, a strange circum- 
stance, the United States mail was still delivered through- 
out the Southern Confederacy. The clouds of an appalling 
war, where brother should face brother, across a line of 
glittering bayonets, were rapidly darkening the heavens. 
Within a few short weeks, the wavering North was to 
stand firm ; 300,000 men were to respond to the Presi- 
dent's call for troops, to defend the flag lowered at Sum- 
ter and to preserve the Union. But as yet there was hope 
of averting the horrors of civil war and Abraham Lincoln 
closed his inaugural address with these words : " In your 
hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in 
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Govern- 
ment will not assail you. You can have no conflict, with- 
out being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath 
registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I 
shall have the most solemn one ' to preserve, protect and 
defend it ' . . . We are not enemies, but friends. We must 



374 PRESIDENCY OF JAMES BUCHANAN [1861 

not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic 
chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all 
over this broad land, will yet swell the chords of the 
Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by 
the better angels of our nature." 

But no word of man could stay the " irrepressible con- 
flict." 



CHAPTER XXI 

PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

The inaugural address contained not only an appeal 
for unity and peace but also a distinct statement of the 
President's future policy. " I have no purpose," he said, 
" directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of 
slavery in the States where it exists. I believe that I have 
no lawful right to do so. . .the property, peace, and se- 
curity of no section are to be in any wise endangered by 
the now incoming administration . . . the protection which, 
consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be 
given, will be cheerfully given to all the States when 
lawfully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheerfully 
to one section as to another." He declared the fugitive- 
slave law " as plainly written in the Constitution as any 
other of its provisions " and called attention to the fact 
that " all members of Congress swear their support to the 
whole Constitution — to this provision as much as to any 
other." He denied the right of a State to secede and con- 
tinued : " I therefore consider that in view of the Con- 
stitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken ; and to the 
extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution 
itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the 
Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this 
I deem to be only a simple duty on my part . . . The 
power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and 
possess the property and places belonging to Government, 
and to collect the duties and imposts." 

375 



376 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

This rightful determination to protect the property of 
the United States was immediately applicable to Fort 
Sumter and was the first subject that demanded atten- 
tion, when the President and his newly-appointed advis- 
ers assembled for the first Cabinet meeting on March 9th. 
The President then submitted the startling information 
that Major Anderson must either abandon his post or a 
strong relief expedition must be sent to him prepared to 
fight. The question admitted of slight delay, for sup- 
plies within the fort were running low. The new Cabinet 
thus called upon to face, at once, a momentous issue con- 
sisted of the following, all anti-slavery men and strong 
Unionists, but not radicals : William H. Seward of New 
York, Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Sec- 
retary of the Treasury ; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, 
Secretary of War ; Gideon Welles of Connecticut, Secre- 
tary of the Navy; Caleb B. Smith of Indiana, Secretary 
of the Interior; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney- 
General ; and Montgomery Blair of Maryland, Postmas- 
ter-General. 

The President dispatched Captain Fox to Charleston, 
and having succeeded in visiting Anderson, Fox returned 
and reported that "the 15th of April, at noon, would be 
the period beyond which the fort could not hold out unless 
supplies were furnished." In the excited state of south- 
ern feeling an attempt to relieve the garrison would in all 
probability be the signal for civil war, a calamity which 
those in authority still hoped to avert. Meanwhile three 
commissioners appointed by Jefferson Davis with full 
powers to negotiate with the United States Government 
*' for the settlement of all questions of disagreement be- 
tween the two Governments, upon principles of right, 
justice, equity, and good faith," had arrived in Washing- 
ton, and were attempting to carry out their instructions. 



i86i] RELIEF OF FORT SUMTER DETERMINED 2>11 

Seward refused to meet them, but John A. Campbell, a 
Southerner and Justice of the Supreme Court, acted as 
an intermediary. Seward advocated the evacuation of 
Fort Sumter and undoubtedly led Justice Campbell to 
suppose that his advice would be followed. This opinion, 
duly communicated to the commissioners, has given 
southern writers an opportunity to accuse the adminis- 
tration of duplicity, but this is unjust, for Seward alone 
was responsible for the impression conveyed. On March 
15th, the Cabinet voted upon the question, with the result 
that five were in favor of abandoning the fort and two^ 
of attempting its relief. The President as usual weighed 
the matter, accepted advice and kept his own counsel. 
The sending of troops to Fort Pickens at Pensacola was 
a much simpler matter as there was, as yet, no organized 
resistance by the State of Florida. The President 
promptly ordered that stronghold reinforced and it re- 
mained throughout the war in possession of the United 
States. 

The President's advisers had had two weeks, in which 
to consider the case of Fort Sumter in all its bearings, 
when the Cabinet met on March 29th, and now the only 
advocates of evacuation were Seward and Smith, al- 
though Bates declared simply for action either relief or 
evacuation. The majority, therefore, stood for the relief 
of the fort and the President, being entirely in accord 
with this opinion, ordered at once an expedition to be 
fitted out and prepared to move by sea on April 6th. He 
made, however, a final effort for conciliation and notified 
Governor Pickens of South Carolina that he was sending 
an expedition to provision Fort Sumter, but would not 
" throw in men, arms, or ammunition " without further 
notice, except in case of an attack upon the fort, Lincoln 
1 Chase and Blair. 



37S PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

was determined not to precipitate civil war while there 
was a chance of averting it, but to preserve the property 
of the nation and to protect her citizens was plainly the 
duty of the Government. 

Charleston was the hot-bed of secession. Its daily pa- 
pers, to emphasize the complete separation from the 
Union, placed all information regarding the United States 
under the heading " foreign news," and the extremists 
declared it intolerable that the flag of a foreign power 
should float over a fort in their harbor. Elaborate prep- 
arations were made to prevent the relief of the imprisoned 
garrison, additional guard-boats patrolled the approaches 
to the harbor, the military force commanded by General 
Beauregard was increased and the fortifications strength- 
ened. On April nth Beauregard formally demanded the 
surrender of the fort. Anderson knew that in a few days 
he would be starved out, unless his Government sent him 
relief, but he hoped to receive assistance and refused to 
surrender. Every possible provision for defence was 
made by the brave little band, for, including eight musi- 
cians and forty-three non-combatant laborers, there were 
only one hundred and twenty-eight men within the fort, 
and but forty-eight mounted guns. At half-past four 
o'clock, on the morning of April 12th, the rebel batteries 
directed their fire upon Sumter. All day the bombard- 
ment continued, was kept up at intervals during the night 
and vigorously resumed on the 13th. The little garrison 
made a heroic defense. The provisions had given out, 
pork being the only article of food remaining; the bar- 
racks were fired by the enemies' shot and there was for 
a time imminent danger of exploding the magazines ; the 
supply of cartridges was about exhausted, so that only at 
intervals could a shot be fired by the wearied men bat- 
tling with flame and smoke within the ramparts; the 



i86i] FALL OF SUMTER 379 

rebels greeted these shots with cheers for the brave men 
behind the guns. In the early afternoon Beauregard sent 
to inquire whether Anderson wished the services of a 
surgeon, or would like to have a fire-engine sent to him. 
Anderson declined the offer of an engine, as the maga- 
zines were then out of danger, and the services of a sur- 
geon were fortunately not required. A peace parley fol- 
lowed and resulted in the surrender of the fort. On 
Sunday, April 14th, having saluted the flag of the United 
States as it was lowered, Anderson and his command 
marched out of the fort and embarked for the North on 
the relief ships lying outside the harbor. These ships 
had arrived during the bombardment, but owing to a 
series of mishaps were unable to render assistance. 

The people of Charleston had viewed the spectacle of 
the bombardment of Sumter with evident rejoicing and 
apparently no realization that they were witnessing the 
opening scene of the greatest civil war in history. They 
did not expect that the North would fight. Southern 
orators asserted : " a lady's thimble would hold all the 
blood to be shed." The efforts for peace, the conciliatory 
attitude of the United States Government, the failure to 
promptly suppress acts of rebellion, had encouraged them 
in this opinion. They forgot that the men North and 
South were of the same race, and that the Anglo-Saxon 
has ever been ready to fight and fight hard in a cause he 
deems righteous. The shot that struck down the flag at 
Sumter aroused the North to action. Her people had 
stood excited, dismayed, shrinking with horror from the 
thought of civil war; disbelieving, in the face of indis- 
putable facts, the reality of the impending conflict ; feel- 
ing that some compromise must avert so awful a calam- 
ity. They viewed the future with gloomy forebodings, 
declaring that if the South was conquered by force of 



380 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

arms, they could never be reunited and live again in 
peace, as one people, with the bitter memories of civil 
war between them. But that day's work brought for- 
ward a solid North, standing shoulder to shoulder, in 
defense of the nation ; ready to die for the flag, they 
never before realized that they so loved ; and determined 
at any cost of blood and treasure, to preserve inviolate 
the fair heritage, which their forefathers had won by a 
like expenditure. " The better rule," wrote Robert E. 
Lee, " is to judge our adversaries from their standpoint, 
not from ours." Perfect justice demands that the South 
should be thus viewed. They believed their cause to 
be right, and southern pulpits as sincerely rendered 
thanks to God for success in the field, as northern wor- 
shippers did for their victories. The sole cause of the 
war was the extension of slavery ; the North had never 
attempted to interfere with slavery in the States where 
it was already established, but they were determined to 
prevent, by all lawful means, its extension into the ter- 
ritories ; the South felt this to be an interference with 
the rights of property, guaranteed to every citizen by the 
Constitution. The cornerstone of the new government 
was slavery ; but they were fighting to maintain an in- 
stitution condemned by the humane spirit, that underlies 
the civilization of the nineteenth century ; they were not 
only opposing the North, but the enlightenment of the 
age. " We are to prove," wrote Lowell in 1861, " which 
is stronger, — an oligarchy built on men, or a common- 
wealth built of them." 

The South claimed the right to secede, declaring that 
the Union was but a league of States, and that, as parties 
to the compact, they had the right to withdraw when 
they saw fit. They proclaimed the sovereignty of the 
States, but were never able satisfactorily to explain in 



i86i] "SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATES" 3S1 

what manner this sovereignty had been obtained by Flor- 
ida and Louisiana, which were formed from territory 
purchased from a foreign power, or gained by those 
States, which had been territories of the United States, 
before their admission to the Union. If this claim of 
sovereignty could be admitted, it could apply only to the 
original thirteen States, but all the Cotton States alike 
asserted the right to secede. The North denied the right 
of secession, and Abraham Lincoln in his message 
to Congress, July 4, 1861, thus clearly set forth its 
view : " Much is said about the ' sovereignty ' of the 
States ; but the word, even, is not in the national Con- 
stitution ; nor, as is believed, in any of the State con- 
stitutions. What is ' sovereignty,' in the political sense 
of the term ? Would it be far wrong to define it, ' a 
political community without a political superior ' ? Tested 
by this, no one of our States, except Texas, ever was a 
sovereignty. And even Texas gave up the character on 
coming into the Union ; by which act she acknowledged 
the Constitution of the United States, and the laws and 
treaties of the United States made in pursuance of the 
Constitution, to be, for her, the supreme law of the land. 
The States have their status in the Union, and they have 
no other legal status. If they break from this, they can 
only do so against the law, and by revolution. The 
Union, and not themselves separately, procured their in- 
dependence and their liberty. By conquest, or purchase, 
the Union gave each of them whatever of independence 
and liberty it has. The Union is older than any of the 
States, and, in fact, it created them as States. Orig- 
inally, some dependent colonies made the Union, and, in 
turn, the Union threw off their old dependence for them, 
and made them States, such as they are. Not one of 
them ever had a State constitution independent of the 



382 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

Union. Of course it is not forgotten that all the new 
States framed their constitutions before they entered the 
Union, nevertheless, dependent upon, and preparatory 
to, coming within the Union. Unquestionably the States 
have the powers and rights reserved to them in and by 
the national Constitution; but among these, surely, are 
not included all conceivable powers, however mischievous 
or destructive, but at most such only as were known in 
the world at the time as governmental powers ; and cer- 
tainly a power to destroy the Government itself had never 
been known as a governmental — as a merely administra- 
tive — power." The right of Revolution, however, be- 
longs to every people, and the South, believing that the 
citizen owed allegiance to his native State rather than 
the nation, and dissatisfied with the government, had the 
same right to rebel as had the Americans, who established 
the government of the United States by a successful 
revolt against English rule. Revolution is justified by 
the righteousness of its motives alone, and by this test 
the " lost cause " of the South must be judged. 

On Monday, April 15th, the Northern press published 
the fall of Sumter, and also the President's proclamation 
calling for seventy-five thousand state militia to serve 
for three months. By an act, passed in 1795, the militia 
could be called upon to serve for only " thirty days after 
the commencement of the then next session of Congress," 
and as this same proclamation summoned Congress to 
meet in extra session on July 4th, it was possible under 
the law to issue a call for ninety days' service only. 
The response was immediate and enthusiastic. Theodore 
Winthrop wrote of the march of the 7th Regiment^ 
through the streets of New York City : " It was worth 
a life, that march. Only one who passed, as we did, 
1 National Guard, State of New York. 



i86i] THE NORTHERN ARMY 383 

through that tempest of cheers, two miles long, can 
know the terrible enthusiasm of the occasion." Men 
from every walk of life hastened to serve their country 
in her hour of need, and Edward Everett's description 
of the Massachusetts volunteers would apply with equal 
truth to every division of the army of the North : " They 
have hurried from the lawyer's office, from the count- 
ing-room, from the artist's studio, in instances not a few 
from the pulpit ; they have left the fisher's line upon the 
reel, the plough in the furrow, the plane upon the work- 
bench, the hammer on the anvil, the form upon the print- 
ing press — there is not a mechanical art nor a useful 
handicraft that has not its experts in these patriotic 
ranks." This skill in mechanical arts, and the business 
capacity gained in conducting mercantile enterprises, 
were of distinct advantage to the North. In their army 
were always found men able to relay torn-up tracks, re- 
pair disabled locomotives, or rebuild destroyed bridges ; 
and northern factories furnished abundant supplies for 
the well equipped federal troops. The South being a 
strictly agricultural community, when shut within her 
own borders, had but few factories to supply her needs 
and suffered accordingly. 

By the autumn of 1861 the Union and the Confederacy 
were in deadly conflict. The former consisted of twenty- 
three States, with a population of twenty-two millions, 
and the latter of eleven States, with a population of nine 
millions, three and one-half millions of this number being 
slaves. These slaves were a source of strength as they 
raised the crops which supplied food for the troops in 
the field. The South was fortunate at the outset in being 
better prepared for the contest, in having a President with 
the military training of West Point, and a great general in 
Robert E. Lee. Time was to give great commanders to 



384 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1864 

the North, but only after many failures and disappoint- 
ments. Throughout, the South possessed the immense 
advantage of fighting on the defensive, and on her own 
ground with which she was perfectly familiar. The war 
lasted for four years. The loss of life in the conflict 
was appalling; we read of armies of 100,000 men 
crushed and defeated, of thousands killed and wounded 
in a single battle; Grant's losses, from May 4 to June 12 
(1864), in the campaign from the Rapidan to the James, 
reached the enormous total of 54,929 men. The south- 
ern coast was closely blockaded by the federal navy, and 
the Mississippi for its entire length came into possession 
of the Union forces. The South was closely shut within 
her borders, she could gain no help from abroad except 
from a blockade runner, in all but her indigenous food 
supply her resources were exhausted, and she had neither 
the means, nor the mechanical skill to replace them. The 
North was rich and powerful, with all Europe to draw 
upon, her factories running upon full time, her people 
prosperous and, notwithstanding the war, her population 
not sensibly lessened, the appalling loss in the field being 
replaced by a constantly increasing immigration from 
Europe. In view of these facts, it must be admitted, 
that the southern people maintained one of the greatest 
and most heroic struggles in all history. 

The Rebellion appears stupendous in whatever light it 
is viewed. It gave to four million slaves their freedom ; 
it proved the vitality and power of free institutions ; and 
it preserved to the world a nation destined, possibly, to 
be the greatest power on the globe. The expenditure 
in blood and treasure was commensurate with the results. 
No war of modern times has been so costly, or waged 
on so vast a scale. The area of invasion in the southern 
States was eight hundred thousand square miles; the 



i86i] COST OF THE WAR 385 

seacoast blockaded was three thousand miles in extent. 
In the beginning the nation had no navy worthy the 
name, but ships were rapidly added, and over one hun- 
dred thousand men enlisted for sea service. In the Fed- 
eral army, during the four years, over two million men 
were included, and in the Confederate, more than one 
million, thus during the Civil War nearly four million 
men were under arms. At the close of hostilities the 
Federal Government paid and discharged over one mil- 
lion men from the army, and without disturbance they 
were absorbed into the industrial life of the nation. 

The cost of the war was enormous. The treasury 
department of the Confederacy was reduced to a 
chaotic state; the attempt to float a loan abroad 
was unsuccessful, as cotton and tobacco, the principal 
assets, were unavailable owing to the strict blockade. 
The financial measures adopted by the Congress of 
the United States maintained the national credit, and 
every promise to pay was redeemed. Consider the 
drain on the federal treasury. During the last three 
years of the Rebellion the war department alone ex- 
pended over $2,300,000,000. The cost of the war aver- 
aged $2,000,000 a day ; it sometimes reached $90,000,000, 
seldom less than $30,000,000 a month. The public debt 
on July I, 1861, was in round numbers $90,000,000; on 
August 31, 1865, it was more than $2,800,000,000. Of 
this lavish expenditure it has been remarked : " No im- 
perial power commanded it, no kingly prerogative con- 
trolled it. It was the free, unbiased, unchangeable will 
of the Sovereign People." 

The 37th Congress met in special session on July 4, 
1 861. Among the numerous war measures the appro- 
priation bills were of first importance. A Loan Bill 
having passed both houses was signed by the President 



386 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

July 17th. It authorized the Secretary of the Treasury 
to issue, to the amount of $250,000,000, 7% bonds hav- 
ing twenty years to run, or treasury notes of the de- 
nomination of $50, payable three years after date and 
bearing 7.3% interest. In August, a supplementary bill 
was passed, permitting the secretary to issue 6% bonds 
payable at the pleasure of the government, after twenty 
years. As an additional source of revenue tariff duties 
were raised, an income tax laid, the list of taxable articles 
increased, and an internal revenue act passed. Expend- 
itures rapidly increased, there was not sufficient gold in 
the country to meet the demand, and on December 30, 1861, 
the banks of New York City suspended specie payment. 
This had been foreseen, and the same day Mr. E. G. 
Spaulding, a leading banker of Buffalo and chairman of 
a sub-committee on finance, introduced the first " Legal- 
Tender Bill " in the House ; Congress having met in 
regular session on December 2d. The bill was reported 
from committee on January 22d, and occasioned a con- 
troversy in both Houses, as many prominent Republicans 
and the majority of Democrats were opposed to it. The 
bill provided for the issue of $100,000,000 non-interest- 
bearing notes, which should be receivable for all debts 
and demands due the United States and a legal tender 
in payment of all debts public and private. It also made 
a legal tender the $50,000,000 of Treasury notes issued 
in the previous July. This sum was to be funded, by 
making the legal tender notes exchangeable, at par, for 
United States 6% bonds, having twenty years to run, 
and the bill authorized for that purpose the issue of 
500,000,000 such bonds.^ The bill passed the House by 

1 As these bonds were redeemable at the pleasure of the Govern- 
ment after five years, and payable in twenty years, they were known 
as "five-twenties." 



i864] THE CURRENCY 387 

a vote of ninety-three to fifty-nine, several of the most 
prominent RepubHcans voting witli the Democrats against 
it. In the senate the bill was amended, making all duties 
on imports and the interest on the public debt payable 
in gold. It passed the senate by a vote of thirty to 
seven,^ and, as amended, was signed by the President on 
February 25th. The first issue of legal-tender notes, 
known from their color as " greenbacks," was made on 
March loth. 

So great was the scarcity of coin that an act was 
passed, in the following July (1862), authorizing the use 
of postage and other government stamps, for the fractional 
parts of a dollar. This postal currency was ill adapted 
for the purpose, and the Government soon issued frac- 
tional notes of appropriate design which were long used 
as small change. Specie payment was not resumed fully 
until January i, 1879 ! although cents and five-cent pieces 
were ordered coined in 1866, and in 1875 silver coins of 
the value of ten, twenty-five, and fifty cents were put 
in circulation. 

During the war, if gold was wanted, it must be bought, 
and the gold-room in Wall Street was as well known as 
the stock exchange. Gold fluctuated from day to day, 
selling, for instance, on January 15, 1864, at a premium 
of fifty-five, and on July nth, in the same year, rising to 
one hundred and eighty-five above par, the highest fig- 
ure attained during the war. Under these conditions 
the price of commodities rose, and greenbacks depreciated, 
until, at the lowest rate, they were worth in gold only 
thirty-five cents on the dollar. In this we see the reason 
for the opposition in Congress to inflating the currency 
by the issue of paper money by the government. It was 
declared unconstitutional, and the elastic clause had again 

1 The vote on the legal-tender clause was twenty-two to seventeen. 



388 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1863 

to serve in argument as in Hamilton's day. The legal- 
tender act increased undoubtedly the cost of the war, 
and engendered false notions of finance among the people, 
as later greenback parties and other financial fallacies 
have proved. But it was urged by its advocates as a neces- 
sary war measure. The government must at once have 
command of a vast sum of money, and the legal-tender 
act promised relief. Chase reluctantly favored the bill 
on these grounds, but eight years later, when Chief- 
Justice of the United States, he gave the opinion from 
the bench that " the Legal-tender Act violated justice, 
was inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution, and 
was prohibited by the Constitution." Nevertheless he 
was thankful at the time for its assistance in enabling 
the government to meet pressing demands. Unfortunately 
the demands continued, and likewise the necessity for 
legal-tender issues ; by the close of the war the whole 
amount authorized by Congress during the four years 
reached the enormous sum of $1,250,000,000. 

One wise measure, the establishment of national banks, 
arose from the exigencies of the financial situation. The 
plan was proposed by Secretary Chase and recommended 
by the President, and a national banking-act was passed 
in February, 1863, ^^'^ ^ revised act in June, 1864. The 
many State banks of that day emitted their own bills, 
which were extensively counterfeited and liable to dis- 
count in other States ; moreover there was no absolute 
certainty of their redemption. The notes of the pro- 
posed banks were not subject to these disadvantages. 
The bill compelled these banks to deposit in the United 
States Treasury, United States government bonds as 
security for their circulation, the banks being permitted 
to issue notes to the extent of 90% of the par value of 
the bonds deposited. In case of the failure of any bank 



1862] WEST VIRGINIA 389 

its bonds could be used to redeem its notes ; bank notes 
were thus under all conditions worth their face value. 
The notes issued by the banks were, in the future, to be 
furnished by the government, and there was little danger 
of an attempt to counterfeit this uniform currency. In 
order to compel all banks emitting notes to become na- 
tional banks, on March 3, 1865, an act was passed tax- 
ing all banks other than national banks 10% on their 
circulation. 

At the beginning of the war, the border States were 
an important factor in the situation, and the President 
displayed high qualities of statesmanship, when he re- 
mained silent regarding slavery, and in proclamation 
and message appealed simply for the preservation of the 
Union. This encouraged the loyal men in doubtful States, 
and united the North, for men of all parties were ready 
to defend the nation, whatever their diversity of opinion 
regarding the negro. The hardy mountaineers of Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky were 
loyal, but the low-lands with their large cities, important 
centres of population, very generally carried the day ; 
and Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the 
Confederacy. The early successes of the federal army 
in western Virginia enabled the Unionists of that section 
to withstand the secession movement, and a separate State 
government was established which provided for the grad- 
ual abolition of slavery. This new State called West Vir- 
ginia was admitted to the Union on the last day of the 
year 1862. 

In Missouri there was a large German population, loyal 
and anti-slavery. The legislature passed an ordinance of 
secession, but the people called a State Convention and 
voted to remain in the Union. By skilful political man- 
agement Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland were retained 



390 PRESIDENCY OF. ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

in the federal bond. The last State, by reason of its 
nearness to Washington, and its position between the 
capital and the phalanx of loyal States, threatened, at 
first, to give serious trouble. There was a Union party, 
but also a strong rebel element, which included a rough 
class designated as " plug-uglies." The Sixth Massa- 
chusetts, the first regiment to start for Washington in 
response to the President's proclamation of April 15th, 
was attacked by these roughs as it was passing through 
Baltimore. Three of the soldiers were killed, and strange- 
ly enough this, the first blood shed in the Civil War, 
was on the anniversary of the battle of Lexington. A 
committee from Baltimore, protesting to the President 
against the passage of troops through their State, re- 
ceived the following reply : " I must have troops to de- 
fend this capital. Geographically it is surrounded by 
the soil of Maryland ; and mathematically the necessity 
exists that they should come over her territory. Our 
men are not moles, and can't dig under the earth; they 
are not birds, and can't fly through the air. There is 
no way but to march across, and that they must do. . . 
Go home and tell your people that if they will not attack 
us, we will not attack them; but if they do attack us, 
we will return it, and that severely." The effort to sup- 
press rebellion in Maryland rendered necessary an ex- 
traordinary act of executive authority — the suspension of 
the writ of habeas corpus. The Constitution of the United 
States makes no provision for civil war, and the occasion 
demanded an unusual exercise of power. Lincoln wisely 
recognized that his first duty was to save the country. 
In his message to Congress on July 4th he asked : " Should 
the Government itself go to pieces lest a certain law be 
violated ? " And answered : " Even in such a case I should 
consider my official oath broken if I should allow the 



i86i] WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENDED 391 

Government to be overthrown, when I might think the 
disregarding the single law would tend to preserve it." 
He denied that there had been a violation of law, as the 
Constitution gave authority to suspend the writ of habeas 
corpus when in " cases of rebellion, or invasion, the 
public safety may require it," and as the Constitution 
does not state whether Congress or the Executive shall 
exercise such power, he had acted within its sanction. 
The President's call in the month of May, for additional 
troops to serve for three years unless sooner discharged, 
and his order increasing the regular army and navy, were 
undoubtedly beyond his legal powers, but Congress fully 
approving his course, before it adjourned, passed the fol- 
lowing : " All the acts, proclamations, and orders of the 
President of the United States, after the 4th of March, 
1861, respecting the army and navy of the United States, 
and calling out or relating to the militia or volunteers 
from the States, are hereby approved, and in all respects 
legalized and made valid, to the same intent, and with 
the same effect, as if they had been issued and done 
under the previous express authority of the Congress 
of the United States." 

Mr. Frederick Bancroft writes : " Lincoln was re- 
sponsible for the suspension of the writ of habeas cor- 
pus, and Seward for the system that soon developed 
therefrom." It gave an autocratic power to the admin- 
istration. Men were arrested by Seward's order, and 
confined in military forts without being even informed 
of the charge against them. The accused had no lawful 
means of redress until the Government chose to act. 
There were abuses under this system, undoubtedly, as it 
furnished an excellent opportunity to the malicious to 
gratify a private spite, by charging another with furnish- 
ing aid or information to the enemy. This arbitrary 



392 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

use of a power, doubtfully constitutional, was a constant 
cause of complaint by those not in sympathy with the 
Republicans, and by those Northern sympathisers with 
the South called " copperheads," and there was enough 
of truth in their attacks to form a rallying-point for the 
discontented. This whole subject must be considered as 
belonging to the " war powers " permitted the President 
in a season of national peril. During the Rebellion the 
Constitution had to be stretched and shaped to fit 
changed conditions, and fortunately it proved sufficiently 
elastic for the purpose. Mr, Bryce in The American Com- 
momvealth thus explains the situation : " In quiet times 
the power of the President is not great. . . In troublous 
times it is otherwise, for immense responsibility is then 
thrown on one who is both the commander-in-chief and 
the head of the civil executive. Abraham Lincoln wielded 
more authority than any single Englishman has done 
since Oliver Cromwell. . . It is true that the ordinary 
law was for some purposes practically suspended during 
the War of Secession. But it will always have to be 
similarly suspended in similar crises, and the suspension 
inures to the benefit of the President, who becomes a 
sort of dictator." 

When Abraham Lincoln became President of the 
United States, he was regarded by the majority of his 
countrymen as an effective stump speaker and an able 
politician; later they learned to know him as one who 
" bore the sorrows of the nation in his own heart," and 
they loved and trusted him accordingly. The Aboli- 
tionists, at first, denounced him as lukewarm toward 
their cause, but they were unjust; Lincoln hated sla- 
very, but he saw the necessity for caution in dealing 
with so complex a question. In the Congress of July 
and August, 1861, an act was passed confiscating all 



i86i] "CONTRABANDS" 393 

property used in aid of the Confederate cause, and one 
section of the bill declared that owners should forfeit 
all claim to those slaves, who should be employed in any 
military or naval service, or put to work on forts or 
fortifications, or used in any capacity in aiding the re- 
bellion against the United States. This was the first 
legislation against slavery. In retaliation the Confed- 
erate Congress passed an act for the sequestration of 
all debts due northern merchants from southern buyers, 
and of the estates and property of all " alien enemies," 
these being all citizens who had not thrown in their lot 
with the Confederacy. The question of the negroes' 
position soon became urgent. As northern armies en- 
tered the southern country, the blacks flocked to their 
standards and were soon employed in various capacities. 
General Butler, in command of Fortress Monroe, declared 
them " contraband of war," and refugee negroes were 
soon known as " contrabands." The President issued an 
order to the effect, that the general in command must be 
guided by the confiscation act, when considering the 
status of negroes from disloyal States, but in the case of 
negroes from loyal slave States, the fugitive-slave law 
must be respected. Radical anti-slavery generals were 
loath to submit to this decision, and Fremont, in com- 
mand of the Department of Missouri, issued a proclama- 
tion (August 30, 1861), declaring free all those slaves 
in the State of Missouri, whose owners were abetting 
rebellion or had taken up arms against the Government. 
Stating that the confiscation act could alone be enforced, 
Lincoln rescinded this order, to the disapproval of Re- 
publican extremists, who were blind to the fact that a 
military commander had no lawful right to free the 
slaves of any State. The Abolitionists very generally con- 
demned Lincoln's policy, but the President, recognizing 



394 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1862 

the importance of retaining the border States, and their 
sensitiveness regarding slavery, patiently bided his time. 
In March, 1862, an act was passed prohibiting slavery in 
the present and future territories of the United States. 
This was followed by the abolition of slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, Congress appropriating a sufficient 
sum of money to compensate the owners. On March 6 
the President sent a special message to Congress, re- 
questing that body to pass a joint resolution to the fol- 
lowing effect : " Resolved, That the United States ought 
to cooperate with any State which may adopt gradual 
abolishment of slavery, giving to each State pecuniary 
aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to com- 
pensate for the inconveniences, public and private, pro- 
duced by such change of system." A resolution as sug- 
gested was passed, the vote in the Senate standing thirty- 
two to nine, and in the House eighty-nine to thirty-one ; 
of these thirty-one nays, twenty were cast by Democrats. 
Lincoln hoped that the loyal slave States — Delaware, 
Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri — would accept this 
generous offer. So desirous was he, that on the adjourn- 
ment of Congress, he summoned the Senators and Rep- 
resentatives of these States to the White House, for a 
conference before their return home. But his arguments 
were of no avail ; slavery was too strongly entrenched ; 
not a State responded to the invitation to emancipate and 
receive payment for the slaves within her borders. In 
the spring of 1862, General Hunter, who commanded 
the Department of the South, resorted to Fremont's 
method of the previous summer and proclaimed free all 
the slaves in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. The 
President promptly declared the order void, and the 
people of the North, now having a better understanding 
of the man and his methods, generally approved of his 



1 862] EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 395 

course. The President considered that the Constitution 
granted neither the Executive nor Congress authority 
to aboHsh slavery, as it was a matter entirely within the 
jurisdiction of the States. But the time had come when 
emancipation was absolutely necessary, public opinion 
demanded it, foreign relations would be simplified by 
such a declaration, and it would deal a heavy blow to the 
Southern Confederacy. The end which had justified 
delay had been attained, for the border States were now 
safe in the fold. 

What plea would legalize emancipation ? The " war 
powers " of the President must suffice. The slaves were 
growing food for the Confederate troops, were serving 
as teamsters, were laboring in the trenches and working 
on fortifications ; they were an active part of the great 
rebellion. The negro was the absolute property of his 
master; by the law of war the property of the enemy 
may be taken when needed, and in this case his prop- 
erty was actually injuring his antagonist; by the law of 
nations the freeing of the slaves was perfectly justifi- 
able, for a nation has the unquestioned right to destroy 
an enemy's property. On July 22, 1862, Lincoln read 
to his cabinet the Emancipation Proclamation, stating 
that he did not ask for advice, as his mind was quite 
made up. At the request of Seward, he consented to 
delay its promulgation until a Union victory, as the recent 
defeats of the federal forces might lead many to view 
this measure as the final effort of an exhausted gov- 
ernment. The battle of Antietam furnished the desired 
victory, and on September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln 
gave to the country the Emancipation Proclamation : 
" On the first day of January, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons 
held as slaves within any State or designated part of 



396 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1865 

a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, 
and forever free." 

But the loyal slave States still cherished their peculiar 
institution; only by a constitutional amendment could 
slavery be destroyed throughout the length and breadth 
of the land. In Congress a thirteenth amendment to 
the Constitution declaring that slavery " should not exist 
within the United States, or any place subject to their 
jurisdiction" was introduced but defeated; it was again 
brought forward early in the following session, was 
passed by the Senate in December, and on the 28th of 
January, 1865, passed the House amid great enthusiasm, 
the vote standing one hundred and nineteen to fifty- 
six. This amendment having been ratified by the 
requisite number of States became the law December 
18, 1865. At last slavery was dead past all hope of 
resurrection.^ 

The great number of " contrabands," in the federal 
camps, were fed and set to work, but the question nat- 
urally arose — should not the negro share in the glorious 
task of obtaining his freedom? A bill was accordingly 
passed by Congress (June 17, 1862), which empowered 
the President to employ persons of African descent in 
suppressing the rebellion, organizing and using them, 
as he judged best for the public welfare, and Lincoln 
fully announced this policy in the final Emancipation 
Proclamation (January i, 1863). Although there was 
opposition to their presence in the ranks, they soon won 
respect by their bravery and good behavior. Officered 
by white men, they did excellent service, and at the close 
of the war there were more than one hundred thousand 
colored troops under arms — Lincoln's words had been 

1 The fugitive-slave bill of 1850 was repealed in June, 1864. 



1863] NEGRO TROOPS 397 

realized : " And there will be some black men who can 
remember that with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, 
and steady eye, and well poised bayonet, they have helped 
mankind on to this great consummation." 



CHAPTER XXII 
PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

The deadly struggle between North and South was 
watched by Europe with deepest interest. Germany and 
Italy, understanding the intention of the Confederacy 
to establish more firmly the institution of slavery, had 
little sympathy with such an effort, and Russia would 
not countenance rebellion against established govern- 
ment. France intrigued throughout. Not daring to 
face alone the consequences of recognizing the Con- 
federacy, Napoleon III. endeavored to induce England 
to join him in doing so. Had he succeeded, he expected, 
in return, the assistance of the South in establishing the 
French empire in Mexico, which showy scheme he con- 
sidered a brilliant political move. North and South both 
looked abroad with eager anxiety ; the South aware that 
her ultimate success depended largely upon foreign as- 
sistance, the North desiring and expecting the sympathy 
of England. 

On May 13, 1861, the English government issued a 
proclamation of neutrality, which in effect acknowledged 
the Confederacy as a belligerent power. Although Eng- 
land never recognized the Confederacy as an independent 
government, her course was considered to be as friendly 
to the South as she dared to make it. This aroused deep 
resentment at the North, and but for the fact that the 
country was represented in London by an able minister 

398 



i86i] ENGLISH SYMPATHY WITH THE SOUTH 399 

— Charles Francis Adams — who possessed all the firm- 
ness of his father and grandfather, with far greater cool- 
ness, the United States would probably have had to 
contend with a European war as well as with a rebellion. 
Why did England, the staunch advocate of liberty, favor 
a cause founded on human slavery ? Lowell wrote at this 
time: 

"We know we've gut a cause, John, 
Thet's honest, just, an' true; 
We thought 't would win applause, John, 
Ef nowhere else, from you." 

Ole Uncle S. sez he, "I guess 
His love of right," sez he, 
"Hangs by a rotten fibre o' cotton: 
There's natur' in J. B., 
Ez wal ez you an' me ! " 

Mr. Hosea Biglow expressed the truth in homely phrase : 
Jealousy, prejudice and selfish greed, qualities of human 
nature not monopolized by John Bull, explain the atti- 
tude of England during the Civil War in America. The 
nobility and gentry, the merchants and manufacturers, 
professional men and politicians, very generally ex- 
pressed sympathy for the South. There were a few 
notable exceptions, the Duke of Argyle, John Bright, 
Richard Cobden and John Stuart Mill were strong 
friends of the North. The leading newspapers warmly 
advocated the Southern cause, and their conclusions were 
too often the result of ignorance regarding American 
conditions. The laboring classes, however, very gen- 
erally sympathized with the Union, and John Bright 
addressing the workingmen of London thus expressed, 
not only their own view, but the reason for the dislike 
of the higher classes, who felt that the success of the 
vigorous young republic threatened the stability of estab- 
lished privilege : " Privilege thinks it has a great interest 



400 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1863 

in it (the war), and every morning, with blatant voice, 
it comes into your streets and curses the American Re- 
public. Privilege has beheld an afflicting spectacle for 
many years past. It has beheld thirty million of men, 
happy and prosperous, without emperor, without king, 
without the surroundings of a court, without nobles, ex- 
cept such as are made by eminence in intellect and virtue, 
without State bishops and State priests, — ' sole venders 
of the love which works salvation,' — without great ar- 
mies and great navies, without great debt and without 
great taxes. Privilege has shuddered at what might 
happen to old Europe if this grand experiment should 
succeed . . . But you, the workers, — you, striving after a 
better time, you, struggling upwards towards the light, 
with slow and painful steps, — you have no cause to look 
with jealousy upon a country which, amongst all the 
great nations of the globe, is that one where labor has 
met with the highest honor, and where it has reaped its 
greatest reward ... In the United States there has been, 
as you know, an open door for every man, and millions 
have entered into it, and have found rest." 

English society regarded the leisure class of the South 
as more in accordance with their own social system 
than the business communities of the North. The mer- 
cantile class saw in this same busy North a rival in 
commerce and manufactures, growing year by year more 
powerful, and threatening to surpass them in their chosen 
field. They had always been indignant at the American 
system of protective tariff, which lessened the amount 
of their exports to the United States, but the most 
serious industrial disturbance, which England had ex- 
perienced in many a year, was caused by the impos- 
sibility of obtaining a supply of cotton from the block- 
aded ports. John Bull is very sensitive in the region 



1863] "THE BUBBLE OF DEMOCRACY" 401 

of the pocket, and his pocket suffered severely. The 
distress resulting from the cotton famine was very great, 
for thousands were thrown out of work. As cotton 
could not be shipped to English mill-owners, the Amer- 
icans, ever responsive to a cry of distress, dispatched a 
vessel from New York City in January, 1863, with a cargo 
of bread, flour and meat for the suffering operatives of 
the closed mills in Lancashire. In England and through- 
out Europe, a great number of people were convinced 
that republican institutions could not withstand the tre- 
mendous strain to which they were subjected, and they 
predicted the downfall of the United States. A dis- 
tinguished American answered these doubters : " Our 
English critics," he said, " see only, or chiefly, in the 
fearful and momentous conflict in which we are en- 
gaged, * a bursting of the bubble of Democracy ' . . . We 
might with as much propriety have said that the Irish 
Rebellion and the Indian Mutiny showed ' the bursting 
of the bubble of Monarchy ' ! " He further remarked of 
bubbles in general : " For all that we know to the con- 
trary, they are all equally liable to burst. Some famous 
ones, bright in royal hues, have burst within the cen- 
tury. Some more of the same may, not impossibly, 
suffer a collapse before the century has closed. So 
that, for this matter, ' the bubble of Democracy ' must 
take its chance with the rest." What was imperatively 
required to silence the critics was " success " — convince 
England that the North would win, and there need be 
no further dread of intervention; the first two years 
of the war, however, were filled with disappointment 
and defeat, but after the summer of 1863, Vicksburg and 
Gettysburg pointed to the ultimate triumph of the Union, 
and there was no further danger that the Confederacy 
would be recognized. 



402 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1861 

England and America were brought to the verge of 
war by the affair of the " Trent," and later, by the 
building of Confederate vessels in English shipyards. 
In the autumn of 1861, James M. Mason, author of the 
fugitive-slave law, and John Slidell, a prominent lawyer 
and politician, embarked in a small steamer at Charles- 
ton, South Carolina; and on a dark and stormy night 
ran the blockade and reached Havana safely. These 
gentlemen had been appointed to represent the Con- 
federacy at London and Paris. It was hoped that they 
would be received, by the governments of England and 
France, as envoys from an independent power; they 
failed to win official recognition, but they managed from 
first to last to give the United States a vast deal of 
trouble. From Havana, they embarked on the Eng- 
lish mail-steamer " Trent " for Southampton. Captain 
Wilkes of the American navy, in command of the man- 
of-war " Jacinto," learned of their departure and the 
nature of their errand. He started in pursuit, and on 
November 8, 1861, overtook the steamer when two hun- 
dred and fifty miles from Havana; as she did not re- 
spond to his command to heave to, he fired a shot 
across her bows. The " Trent " was then boarded by 
an officer, with a party of sailors and marines, and the 
envoys and their secretaries, who were under the pro- 
tection of the British flag, were forcibly taken from 
the ship in spite of the protests of the captain. Wilkes 
sailed north with his captives, who were there impris- 
oned in Fort Warren in Boston harbor. The people 
throughout the United States rejoiced greatly over the 
arrest of these prominent rebels, resolutions compliment- 
ing the impetuous captain were passed by various bodies, 
even by the House of Representatives. But Lincoln and 
Seward realized the gravity of the situation ; they were 



1862] AFFAIR OF THE "TRENT" 403 

aware that Captain Wilkes could not be defended; al- 
though his act was unauthorized by the Government, 
they must answer for it, and it was undoubtedly illegal. 
The storm soon burst. The English minister for For- 
eign Affairs, Lord Russell, demanded the surrender of 
the prisoners and a suitable apology for the affront. 
At the same time the English government^ ordered eight 
thousand troops to Canada, and issued a proclamation 
forbidding the export of arms and ammunition. As 
America had gone to war with Great Britain in 181 2, 
in defense of the very principle that Captain Wilkes 
had violated, there was no honorable course open to her 
but to reply, as Secretary Seward now did, that " the 
United States Government could not deny the justice 
of the claim presented " and that the four prisoners 
would be " cheerfully liberated." They were delivered 
to a British sloop-of-war on January i, 1862, and al- 
though the incident terminated peaceably, it unfortu- 
nately engendered much ill-feeling in both countries. 
This was increased by the action, or rather lack of action, 
by the English government in regard to the building 
of Confederate privateers in English dock-yards. The 
first of these vessels was known as the " Florida." 
Within three months she captured fifteen American 
merchant ships. She had been built ostensibly for the 
Italian government, but Mr. Adams understood this 
subterfuge, and warned the English government of her 
real purpose. Like many similar warnings it was of 
no avail. Vessels intended for the Confederate service 
were built in British shipyards ; sailed away under the 
British flag; in some quiet harbor received their arma- 
ment ; then hoisting the Confederate flag steamed away 

1 Lord Palmerston was Prime Minister of England and Lord Lyons 
was the English minister at Washington. 



404 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1862 

to prey upon American commerce. The most famous 
of these privateers was the " Alabama," which was built 
by the well known firm of the Lairds in their dock- 
yards on the Mersey. Obtaining full particulars of the 
character of this vessel, Mr. Adams informed the author- 
ities and requested her detention ; legal difficulties arose, 
and while the authorities procrastinated, the cause of the 
commotion slipped out to sea (July 29, 1862), much to 
the delight of southern sympathizers and the openly 
expressed satisfaction of the English press. While un- 
der construction, the vessel had been designated the 
" 290," but once at sea Captain Semmes took command 
and named her the " Alabama." During her career of 
two years the " Alabama " captured some seventy north- 
ern vessels. Captain Semmes' plan of action was very 
simple; ships were decoyed by the British flag flying 
from the privateer ; when within range were fired upon ; 
the Confederate flag was displayed and the prize seized. 
These captured ships were generally burned, and many 
such torches lighted up the Atlantic. The " Alabama " 
was finally destroyed by the United States ship-of-war 
" Kearsarge," in a fierce fight off the coast of France 
near Cherbourg June 19, 1864. Mr. Justin McCarthy 
remarks : " The ' Alabama ' was practically an English 
vessel. She was built by English builders in an Eng- 
lish dockyard; she was manned, for the most part, by 
an English crew ; her guns were English ; her gunners 
were English ; . . . she sailed under the English flag, was 
welcomed in English harbors, and never was in, or even 
saw, a Confederate port." In the autumn of 1863 two 
formidable iron rams were built for the purpose of open- 
ing Southern ports. On September 5th, Mr. Adams wrote 
to Lord Russell, that one of these rams was about to 
sail, and quietly remarked : " It would be superfluous 



i862] REPUBLICAN LOSSES AT THE POLLS 405 

in me to point out to your lordship that this is war." 
Three days later he received the following reply : " Lord 
Russell presents his compliments to Mr. Adams, and has 
the honor to inform him that instructions have been is- 
sued which will prevent the departure of the two iron- 
clad vessels from Liverpool." It is now known that the 
order had been given two days before the receipt of Mr. 
Adams' note, although the American minister was un- 
aware of the fact. The Northern victories in the pre- 
vious summer had had due effect. 

When the day of reckoning came, in the summer of 
1873, the decision of the Geneva tribunal held England 
responsible for the depredations of the " Alabama," the 
" Florida," and the " Shenandoah," and awarded a sum 
of about three millions and a quarter sterling, to be paid 
by England to the United States, in settlement of all 
claims of owners and shippers who had suffered by 
these privateers. A heavy price to pay for misplaced 
sympathy. 

During these years filled with the turmoil of war, 
Abraham Lincoln carried a heavy burden of care and 
responsibility that deepened the lines of sadness in that 
rugged face. The year and a half following the fall of 
Sumter was a period of disaster and defeat, for the great 
military leaders had not yet come to the front, although 
they had already arisen in the West. The dissatisfaction 
engendered by the conduct of the war, was manifested 
at the polls in the autumn of 1862, when the New Eng- 
land States with Delaware, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, 
Minnesota, Missouri, California and Oregon alone gave 
Republican majorities, and these in most cases seriously 
diminished. The President's own State, Illinois, elected 
to Congress eleven Democrats and but three Republicans. 
In the thirty-seventh Congress the Democrats numbered 



4o6 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1863 

forty-four, in the thirty-eighth there would be seventy- 
five; the Republican majority was cut down to twenty. 
So serious a defeat at the polls was equivalent to a vote 
of censure for the administration. Several causes aside 
from the military reverses led to this result. The radical 
Abolitionists disliked the President's prudent treatment 
of the question of slavery, and many good citizens were 
alarmed by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus 
and the arbitrary arrests that followed. They rightly 
considered, that in disloyal States the military power 
should have full sway, but that it was unnecessary to 
set aside constitutional safeguards, where the regular 
courts of law were in full operation. Another class, 
noting the vast amounts of legal-tender issue, declared 
that the country would be bankrupted by an inflated 
paper currency and the wasteful expenditure of public 
funds. The " copperheads," declaring " the war a fail- 
ure," were the most mischievous element at the North ; 
fortunately, they were only a section of the Democratic 
party, the larger number being most loyal and known as 
" War Democrats." But notwithstanding this discon- 
tent there was a determination to carry on the war and 
save the Union. When Lincoln in the early summer of 
1862 called for 300,000 fresh troops, a popular song of 
the day declared : " We're coming. Father Abraham, 
300,000 more," and the brave volunteers filled out the 
quota of each State. But the feverish intensity of the 
early patriotic uprising could not be maintained during 
four years ; as opportunities for money-making were 
developed by the war, men were induced to enter busi- 
ness rather than the army, and volunteering no longer 
sufficed to replace the enormous losses in the field. In 
the spring of 1863, a Conscription Act was passed. By 
this act the raising of troops was undertaken by the 



1863] CONSCRIPTION ACT AND DRAFT 407 

Government instead of by the States as hitherto. The 
country was divided into enrollment districts, usually 
corresponding to the State congressional districts, and 
within these limits all able-bodied citizens, between the 
ages of twenty and forty-five years, were enrolled to 
be drafted as troops were required. The conscription 
throughout the South was much more severe and was 
passed a year earlier; in the last desperate struggle, so 
many youths and old men were found in the rebel ranks, 
that it was said the Confederacy had " robbed the cradle 
and the grave " to obtain recruits for her armies. 

At the North the draft was most unpopular; the 
" copperheads " declared the Conscription Act uncon- 
stitutional ; and the laboring classes grumbled at that 
clause of the bill which permitted any person drafted 
to furnish a substitute, or become exempt by the pay- 
ment of three hundred dollars to the government. This, 
it was argued, permitted the rich man to escape service, 
and forced the poor man into the army. There was 
some excitement throughout the country when the draft- 
ing began, but the most serious trouble was in New 
York City, with its large foreign population. This ele- 
ment declared its unwillingness " to fight for niggers," 
and a riot resulted (July 13, 1863), which lasted four 
days. A large amount of property was destroyed, in- 
offensive blacks were hung to trees and lampposts, the 
Colored Orphan Asylum was attacked, and the building- 
burned to the ground ; the inmates through the efforts 
of a force of police fortunately reaching a place of safety. 
But this same summer was to witness the turning of 
the tide; great Union victories cheered the people, and 
united them more firmly to support the Government and 
carry the war to a successful conclusion. 

The President was fortunate in his cabinet, for Seward 



40^ PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1862 

proved to be an able Secretary of State, Chase a most 
capable Secretary of the Treasury, and Edwin M. Stan- 
ton an efficient and energetic Secretary of War, although 
most unpopular by reason of his lack of tact and brusque- 
ness of manner. The previous secretary, Cameron, had 
conducted the business of the War Department with ex- 
travagance and lack of system, and was formally dis- 
missed by Lincoln January 11, 1862. Under Stanton's 
management abuses soon ceased to exist, and rigid 
order and honesty prevailed. Chase was an aspirant for 
the presidency in 1864, and, embittered by the collapse 
of his hopes, did not hesitate to write and speak of Lin- 
coln in disparaging terms. His conduct provoked fric- 
tion, and finally, disagreeing over an appointment, he 
tendered his resignation, which was accepted, and Wil- 
liam Pitt Fessenden, an able financier, succeeded him in 
June, 1864. Four months later, on the death of Chief- 
Justice Taney, Lincoln appointed Chase to the vacant 
position for which he was well fitted by his integrity 
and legal knowledge. 

Although the war was not ended, " reconstruction " 
was forced upon public attention and indicated the com- 
plexity of the questions to be fully decided in the future. 
What was to be the position in the body politic of States 
lately in rebellion? The President realized the danger 
of sectional enmity in a federation of States, and desired 
to pave the way for reconciliation. He contended that 
the States had never been out of the Union, as they had 
no power to secede ; in the disloyal States the govern- 
ment was simply suspended, while violence prevented 
the rightful conduct of public affairs ; when order was 
restored, the loyal element was entitled to continue the 
State government as before. Those prominently en- 
gaged in attacking the Government should, naturally, be 



1863] PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY 469 

excluded from any participation in its affairs, and all 
others, lately in arms, should be willing to take the oath 
of allegiance, if they desired to resume the rights of 
citizenship. All acts of the Congress of the United 
States were of course applicable to these States, although 
for obvious reasons they had not yet been enforced. The 
questions involved occasioned much friction in and out 
of Congress. 

On December 8, 1863, the President accompanied his 
annual message by a Proclamation of Amnesty. By this 
all rebels, except officers above the rank of colonel, and 
all who left seats in Congress, or resigned commissions 
in the army or navy, to engage in the rebellion, who now 
desired to return to their allegiance, could do so by tak- 
ing an oath " to support, protect, and defend " the Con- 
stitution and the Union, and to abide by all legislation 
and proclamations concerning slavery made during the 
rebellion. Those taking this oath were to be restored 
to all rights and all property except slaves, unless the 
rights of third parties should have intervened. The 
proclamation also announced that in any State in rebel- 
lion, whenever the citizens qualified by this oath, and 
equalling in number one-tenth the voters in the year 
i860, should establish a State government, republican in 
form and not contravening the oath, it should be rec- 
ognized as the true Government and so declared by 
a proclamation of the President, and the State should 
receive the protection guaranteed to every State by the 
Constitution of the United States. Furthermore, the 
State could make provision for the freedmen, declaring 
them permanently free, or providing for their education 
or general welfare. At first this proclamation was re- 
ceived with approval, but its conciliatory tone soon pro- 
voked unfavorable comment. Was there to be no pun- 



410 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1864 

ishment for those who had forced the North to such 
an appalHng loss, the Hfe-blood of the nation poured out 
as water? Was the great task of reconstruction to be 
undertaken by the Executive, without the aid of the 
Legislative department; was a President's proclamation 
to possess this power? Opinion varied, from those who 
agreed with the President, to those who considered that 
the whole South should be reduced to a territory from 
which new States should be formed at the will of their 
conquerors. Congress was soon called upon to take 
action. A bill was introduced by Henry Winter Davis 
which passed both Houses after much debate, and was 
placed before the President for approval on July 4, 1864, 
the last day of the session. This bill declared that when 
hostilities ceased in any State the white male citizens 
were to call a convention to frame a state government. 
This must disfranchise all civil and military officers of 
the Confederacy, abolish slavery, and repudiate all in- 
debtedness incurred for Confederate purposes. This 
was not unlike the Proclamation of Amnesty, but had 
one striking difference: the government thus formed 
must be accepted by Congress, and the President's share 
in the proceedings consisted in issuing a proclamation 
declaring the reorganized State a member of the Union. 
The President did not sign this bill. He disapproved 
of the form in which it was drawn as indicating that 
the States must reenter the Union. He also considered 
that Congress had no constitutional power to abolish 
slavery; that he had done so himself, was on the author- 
ity of the " war powers " of the President. The refusal 
to sign the bill aroused the wrath of a large number of 
Republicans, who did not hesitate to censure the Presi- 
dent in severe terms. 

The presidential campaign of 1864 was complicated by 



i864] PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 411 

these differences of opinion. The discontented, radical 
Republicans called a convention, which met at Cleveland 
on May 31st, and nominated John C. Fremont for Pres- 
ident, and John C. Cochran for Vice-President. Rec- 
ognizing the futility of his candidacy, in September Fre- 
mont withdrew his name. The National Republican Con- 
vention met at Baltimore on June 7th. On the first ballot 
Abraham Lincoln received the vote of every State except 
Missouri, her delegates casting a solid vote for General 
Grant, but subsequently transferring it in order to make 
the nomination unanimous. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee 
was selected for Vice-President, in order to disprove the 
assertion that the Republicans were a " sectional party," 
by naming a southern man. He was a " War Dem- 
ocrat " and a strong Unionist. Lincoln did not attempt 
to disguise his desire for a renomination, which would 
mark public approval of his course and afford him the 
opportunity of completing his great work of saving the 
Union. Yet always modest, he said in answering the 
congratulations of the National Union League : " I do 
not allow myself to suppose that either the Convention 
or the League have concluded to decide that I am either 
the greatest or the best man in America, but rather they 
have concluded it is not best to swap horses while cross- 
ing the river, and have further concluded that I am not 
so poor a horse that they might not make a botch of it 
in trying to swap." 

On August 29th the Democratic National Convention 
met at Chicago and nominated on the first ballot George 
B. McClellan for President. George H. Pendleton was 
nominated for Vice-President. The following was the 
most important plank in their platform : " That this Con- 
vention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the Amer- 
ican people, that after four years of failure to restore 



412 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1864 

the Union by the experiment of war. . .justice, humanity, 
liberty, and the pubhc welfare demand that immediate 
efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view 
to an ultimate Convention of the States or other peace- 
able means, to the end that at the earliest practicable 
moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Fed- 
eral Union of the States." The first statement in this 
resolve was brought to naught within eight months; 
for by the middle of April (1865) the shattered South- 
ern armies, completely routed, were forced to lay down 
their arms ; the war was over ; the South prostrate ; 
her " cause " utterly lost. 

The futility of attempting to end the war in any other 
manner than by conquest, was shown by the unsuccess- 
ful " peace missions " undertaken by individuals, well- 
meaning but mistaken. Horace Greeley wrote to the 
President in July, 1864, a fervid letter begging him to 
embrace the opportunity of achieving an honorable peace, 
by opening negotiations with southern commissioners, un- 
derstood by Mr. Greeley to be in Canada. The Pres- 
ident deputed his correspondent to proceed to Niagara, 
and if he found the supposed envoys to be properly ac- 
credited to bring them to Washington. As Lincoln had 
surmised, the Southerners had no authority to act in the 
matter. The sentiments of the Confederate Government 
were explicitly stated, in that same month of July, by 
Jefferson Davis in answer to Rev. Colonel Jaquess and 
Mr. J. R. Gilmore, who were in Richmond on an 
unauthorized peace-mission. Davis said : " I desire 
peace as much as you do ; . . . but the war must go on 
until the last man of this generation falls in his 
tracks, and his children seize his musket and fight 
our battle, unless you acknowledge our right to self- 
government. We are not fighting for Slavery. We are 



i865] SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS 413 

fighting for Independence; and that or extermination 
we will have." 

The presidential election was held on November 8, 
1864. Lincoln received two hundred and twelve electoral 
votes, and McClellan twenty-one — those of the States 
of New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. 

During the winter following, the war drew rapidly to 
a close, and on March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln again 
took the oath as President of the United States. Even 
to-day we feel a thrill of emotion as we read the closing 
words of his second inaugural address : " ' Woe unto 
the world because of offenses ! for it must needs be that 
offenses come ; but woe to that man by whom the of- 
fense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American sla- 
very is one of those offenses which, in the providence 
of God, must needs come, but which, having continued 
through his appointed time, He now wills to remove, 
and that He gives to both North and South this terrible 
war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, 
shall we discern therein any departure from those divine 
attributes which the believers in a living God always 
ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we 
pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass 
away. Yet, if God will that it continue until all the 
wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty 
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every 
drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by 
another drawn with the sword, as was said three thou- 
sand years ago, so still it must be said, ' The judgments 
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' With 
malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firm- 
ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let 
us strive on to finish the work we are in ; to bind up the 
nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne 



414 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1865 

the battle, and for his widow and his orphans ; to do all 
which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace 
among ourselves and with all nations." Thus spoke the 
man who had triumphantly carried his country through 
a life or death struggle, who had emancipated a race, 
and who saw before him the task of reconstructing a 
nation. 

The Northern troops entered Richmond on April 3 
(1865), and the following account of a dramatic and 
suggestive incident is given by Nicolay and Hay : " A 
colored regiment . . . led by a grandson of President John 
Quincy Adams, shared with the two white regiments . . . 
the honor of a march into the rebel capital on the day 
of its surrender. , . The white people of Richmond dis- 
appeared from the streets, and the black population 
streamed forth . . . To see this compact, organized body 
of men of their own color, on horseback, in neat uni- 
forms, with flashing sabres, with a gleam of confidence 
in their eyes, was a palpable reality to which their hope 
and pride, long repressed, gave instant response. They 
greeted them with expressions of welcome in every form 

— cheers, shouts, laughter, and a rattle of exclamations 

— as they rushed along the sides of the streets to keep 
pace with the advancing column, and feast their eyes 
on the incredible sight ; while the black Union soldiers 
rose high in their stirrups and with waving swords and 
deafening huzzas acknowledged the fraternal recep- 
tion." 

On the 9th of April General Lee surrendered to Gen- 
eral Grant at Appomattox Court House, and it was 
known that the last remaining army of the South must 
surrender to General Sherman within a few days. These 
tidings of great joy filled the North with thanksgivings; 
the war was ended, and the great, free republic was more 



i86s] DEATH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 415 

firmly established than ever before ; the astonished world 
had to acknowledge that democratic institutions possessed 
all the tenacity of monarchical forms; the wonderful 
resources, the strength and vitality of the nation were a 
marvel to all. 

On the 13th of April James Russell Lowell wrote to 
Charles Eliot Norton : " The news, my dear Charles, 
is from Heaven. I felt a strange and tender exaltation. 
I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry, and ended by 
holding my peace and feeling devoutly thankful. There 
is something magnificent in having a country to love. 
It is almost like what one feels for a woman. Not so 
tender, perhaps, but to the full as self-forgetful." In 
this season of well-earned happiness, of universal re- 
joicing by a people who had borne the burden and heat 
of the day, the blow fell that turned their joy to grief. 
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes 
Booth, a fanatical Southerner, while attending a play at 
Ford's Theatre, on the evening of April 14th. He died 
the next morning, never regaining consciousness after 
the fatal shot was fired. Many can recall that April 
morning, to which Mr. Lowell alludes in the closing 
words of his essay upon Abraham Lincoln, and can 
testify to their truth : " Never before that startled April 
morning, did such multitudes of men shed tears for the 
death of one they had never seen, as if with him a 
friendly presence had been taken away from their lives, 
leaving them colder and darker. Never was funeral 
panegyric so eloquent as the silent look of sympathy 
which strangers exchanged when they met on that day. 
Their common manhood had lost a kinsman." 

This man of rigid honesty and strict integrity was 
democratic in the best sense, with much of the native 
flavor of the soil ; full of American humor and withal 



4i6 PRESIDENCY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN [1865 

tender of heart; loving his country with quiet intensity, 
and taking the wide outlook of the statesman, who sees 
not to-day only, but the distant to-morrow. Abraham 
Lincoln shared the common weakness of the race, on 
occasion he blundered and was mistaken, but he felt im- 
pelled to do his duty, and struggled toward the right 
as God gave him to see it. He left what he had not 
found — a nation. The doctrine of " state rights " was 
dead, although the constitutional rights of the States 
were unimpaired. 

Time has effaced the scars of war, and as the United 
States has advanced to her position as a great world 
power, her whole people have proudly recognized the 
greatness and the influence of her national life. To 
this prosperous and united people, a distinguished Amer- 
ican has uttered a word of warning and of inspiration 
in the following message to his countrymen : " What 
we want is an active class who will insist in season and 
out of season that we shall have a country whose great- 
ness is measured, not only by its square miles, its num- 
ber of yards woven, of hogs packed, of bushels of wheat 
raised, not only by its skill to feed and clothe the body, 
but also by its power to feed and clothe the soul; a 
country that shall be as great morally as it is materially; 
a country whose very name shall not only, as now it 
does, stir us as with the sound of a trumpet, but shall 
call out all that is best within us by offering us the 
radiant image of something better and nobler and more 
enduring than we_, of something that shall fulfil our 
own thwarted aspirations, when we are but a handful 
of forgotten dust in the soil trodden by a race whom 
we shall have helped to make more worthy of their in- 
heritance than we ourselves have the power, I might 
almost say the means, to be." 



INDEX 



Aberdeen, Lord, 291. 

Abolition movement. See Sla- 
very. 

Adams, Charles Francis, 302, 
328; minister to England, 
398; in relation to Southern 
privateers, 403. 

Adams, John, 55 ; moved to 
organize state governments, 
88; seconds motion for in- 
dependence, 91 ; letter on 
independence, 94 ; commis- 
sioner to negotiate treaty of 
peace, 106; negotiates com- 
mercial treaties, 116; at the 
court of George III., 117; 
remarks of Jay, 150; 160, 
172; life of, 174; quar- 
rels with Hamilton, 175, 
182; cabinet of, 175; dif- 
ficulty with France, 175 ; 
signs obnoxious acts, 177; 
appoints Washington to com- 
mand of army, 180 ; appoints 
minister to France, 181 ; 
election of, goes to the 
House, 183; hated by the 
Federalists, 184 ; appoints 
Marshall chief justice, 185; 
189, 205, 207; character of, 
238; death of, 243. 



Adams, John Quincy, 201 ; 
peace commissioner, 216; 218, 
229, 233 ; secretary of state, 
231; 232, 235; candidacy of,. 
236 ; life of, 238 ; letter to his 
mother, 238 ; diary of, 239 ; 
opposition to, 241 ; corrupt 
bargain alleged, 242, 247 ; 
proposes internal improve- 
ments, 246; removals from 
office, 246; in second pres- 
idential campaign, 24S; close 
of administration, 250; 203, 
265 ; part in abolition cru- 
sade, 275 ; contends for right 
to petition, 275; death of, 
278 ; 279 ; on slavery, 326. 

Adams, Samuel, life, 29, 30; 
on the right to tax, 31 ; pre- 
sents Massachusetts resolves, 
36 ; 47 ; circular letter, 48 ; or- 
dered to England for trial, 
49 ; Vindex letters, 52 ; in 
Boston massacre, 54; on 
pensioned judges, 57; moves 
committee of correspond- 
ence, 57 ; in Boston tea- 
party, 62 ; ruse to secure 
appointment of congressional 
delegates, 74; attempts to 
bribe, 75; 77, 81, 85, 89; ex- 



417 



4i8 



INDEX 



presses joy of people over 
independence, 95 ; influence 
of, for adoption of constitu- 
tion, 142. 

" Alabama," southern priva- 
teer, 404. 

Alamance, battle of, 57. 

Alien act, provisions of, 177; 
190. 

Ames, Fisher, in debate on Jay 
Treaty, 170. 

Anderson, Major Robert, 370; 
376; defends Fort Sumter, 
378. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, unpop- 
ular governor, 21. 

Annapolis Convention, 130. 

Annapolis Naval Academy es- 
tablished, 297. 

Anti-Federalist party, origin 
of, 139. 

Anti-Masonic party, account 
of, 267. 

Argyle, Duke of, 399. 

Arlington, Earl of, 8. 

Armstrong, Major John, Nevir- 
burgh Letter, 113. 

Ashburton, Lord, 288. 

Association of United Colo- 
Assumption, 152. [nies, 78. 

Astor, John Jacob, 232. 



Bacon, Nathaniel, 8. 

Bainbridge, Captain, 193. 

Bancroft, George, on repre- 
sentative government in Vir- 
ginia, s; 296. 

Bancroft, Frederick, on sus- 
pension of writ of habeas 
corpus, 391. 



Banks, National, Tyler's course 
regarding, 287; act to es- 
tablish, 388. 

Banks, United States, first, 
155; failure to recharter, 
210; second chartered, 219; 
vestigation of, 222; attack 
on, and destruction of, 264, 
268. 

Barre, Isaac, on stamp-act, 32; 
64. 

Bates, Edv^^ard, 376, 377. 

Bayard, Senator, 216. 

Beauregard, General, 378. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, on sla- 
very, 315; on Kansas Con- 
Bell, John, 364. [flict, 329. 

Benton, Thomas H., on Clay- 
Randolph duel, 248; 262; on 
U. S. Bank, 266; moves to 
expunge, 281 ; 301 ; assault 
on, 312; opposes Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, 324. 

Berkeley, Sir William, 7; 8. 

Biddle, Nicholas, U. S. Bank 
troubles, 264, 268, 282. 

Birney, James G., 293, 294. 

Black Jeremiah S., 342; opin- 
ion of slavery, 371. 

Blaine, James G., on the slave 
power, 336. 

Blair, Francis P., 254. 

Blair, Montgomery, 376, note 

377- 
Blennerhassett, Harmon, 203. 
Booth, John Wilkes, 415. 
Boston Massacre, 53. 
Boston Port Bill, provisions 

of, 63; received in America, 

68. 
Bowles, Samuel, 323. 



INDEX 



419 



Breckenridge, John C, 363. 

Bright, John, on English sym- 
pathy for the South, 399. 

Brooks, Preston, assaults Sum- 
ner, 331 ; sustained by South, 

331. 

Brown, Aaron V., 342. 

Brown, John, life of, 354; in 
Virginia raid, 356; trial and 
execution, 357; letter to his 
wife, 358; result of his 
course, 359. 

Bryant, William CuUin, 323, 
333, 360. 

Bryce, James, on war powers 
of President of U. S., 392. 

Buchanan, James, 283, 298; 
nominated for President, 
332 ; elected, 333 ; cabinet 
of, 342; panic of 1857, 344; 
desires to purchase Cuba, 
344 ; approves Lecompton 
Constitution, 348 ; quarrels 
with Douglas, 349; special 
message to Congress, 349; 
Kansas to be admitted by 
proclamation of, 351 ; weak- 
ness of, 368 ; signs a 13th 
amendment, 370 ; reorgan- 
izes his cabinet, 371. 

Buford, Colonel, fits out em- 
igrants for Kansas, 329. 

Bulwer, Henry Lytton, 310. 

Burgesses, House of, authority 
of, S; establishes trial, by 
jury, 5; grants ballot to all 
freeman, 6; passes tyran- 
nical laws, 7 ; Long Assem- 
bly, 9; secures right of tax- 
ation to the people, 9; reso- 
lutions on stamp-act, 34. 



Burke, Edmund, on motion to 

repeal tax on tea, 65 ; on 

conciliation of the colonies, 

80; 83, 105. 
Burgoyne, General John, 81, 

99. 
Burns, Anthony, fugitive slave, 

returned in Boston, 325. 
Burr, Aaron, intrigues for the 

presidency, 183; life of, 193; 

duel with Hamilton, 195 ; 

treasonable scheme of, 202. 
Butler, Benjamin F., declares 

slaves contraband of war, 

393. 



Cadore, Duke of, on Napo- 
leon's good-will towards 
America, 209. 

Calhoun, John C, life of, 235 ; 
247, 249; arouses Jackson's 
animosity, 256; on nullifica- 
tion, 257, 260, 262; southern 
leader, 263 ; 281 ; in Tyler's 
cabinet, 290, 295 ; 301, 304 ; 
on compromise of 1850, 307. 

California, state of, 303 ; contest 
over admission, 304, 311. 

Camden, Lord, 102, 106. 

Cameron, Simon, 376, 408. 

Campbell, John A., 377. 

Canning (Lord Stratford de 
Redclyffe), interview with J. 
Q. Adams, 233. 

Cass, Lewis, 302, 342, 371. 

Charles L, 6. 

Charles IL, 7, 8; determines 
on submission of Massachu- 
setts, 19. 

Charleston Mercury, newspa- 



420 



INDEX 



per, on Lecompton Constitu- 
tion, 347. 

Chase, Salmon P., 321 ; on 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, 322 ; 
276, note 277 \ on legal-ten- 
der act, 388 ; appointed chief- 
justice, 408. 

Chatham, Lord. See Pitt. 

Chauncy, Rev. Charles, ser- 
mon on repeal of stamp-act, 
41. 

" Chesapeake," frigate, 200. 

Choate, Rufus, 263 ; on the 
compromise of 1850, 317. 

Cincinnati, Society of the, 108. 

Circular Letter, 32. 

Clay, Henry, life of, 212; 
peace commissioner, 216; 218, 
227; his American system, 
^22>f 235 ; 262 ; in presidential 
contest, 236; secretary of 
state, 242 ; corrupt bargain al- 
leged, 242, 247 ; proves charge 
false, 248; duel with Ran- 
dolph, 248; a great leader, 
249 ; tariff compromise, 263 ; 
in U. S. Bank contest, 266; 
carries through vote of cen- 
sure. 269; 281, 283, 285; con- 
demns Tyler, 287; influence 
of., 292; presidential cam- 
paign of, 292; 301, 304; com- 
promise of 1850, 305 ; speech 
on bill. 306; 311; death of, 
318; 335- 

Clayton, John M., 263 ; nego- 
tiates treaty, 310. 

Cleveland, Grover, 122. 

Clinton, George, 92, 131 ; op- 
poses constitution, 143 ; 145, 
166; defeats Jay, 171; 195; 



elected vice-president, 205 ; 
247. 

Clinton, Sir Henry, 81, 90. 

Cobb, Howell, 342, 371. 

Cobden, Richard, 399. 

Cochran, John C, 411. 

Colonies, independence of, 2; 
by whom established, 4; 
French colonies in America, 
23 ; relation of, to mother 
country, 24. 

Compromise, Missouri, contest 
in Congress, 225 ; contest re- 
newed, 226; Maine bill, 227; 
compromise accepted, 228 ; 
301; repeal of, moved, 320; 
debated, 321 ; northern in- 
dignation at, 324; opinion 
of Supreme Court, 340. 

Compromise, of 1850, provi- 
sions of, 305 ; contest in Con- 
gress, 306, 309; bill passes, 
311- 

Confederacy, New England, 
16. 

Confederacy, Southern, prepa- 
ration for, 365 ; government 
formed, 366; commissioners 
to U. S., 376; strength of, 
383 ; foreign loan of, 385 ; 
sequestration act, 393 ; Euro- 
pean commissioners of, 402; 
building privateers in Eng- 
land, 403 ; conscription in, 
407. 

Confederation, articles of, 
drafted, 95 ; adopted, 96 ; 
weakness of, 112, 123; 133. 

Congress, ist Continental, del- 
egates appointed, 74; elec- 
tion of Massachusetts dele- 



INDEX 



421 



gates, 74; convenes, 76; re- 
ceives Suffolk Resolves, 77 ; 
forms association of United 
Colonies, 78 ; state-papers, 
78. 

2d Continental, convened, 
86; address to king, 87; 
measures of, 87; sovereign 
powers of, 90; Declaration 
of Independence, 91 ; army 
measures, 97. 

7th Continental, refuses to 
negotiate with British com- 
missioners, lOI. 

During the Confederation. 
Claims of soldiers, 114; re- 
tires to Princeton, 155 ; pa- 
per money issues, 121 ; na- 
tional tariff proposed, 126; 
calls national convention, 
131; (14th and last Conti- 
nental Congress adjourns 
October 21, 1788). 

Under the Constitution. 
I. Congress organizes new 
government, 146 ; assump- 
tion, 152; accepts cession of 
Tennessee, 153 ; Vermont 
admitted, 153; passes ex- 
cise, 153. 

II., investigation of Treas- 
ury department, 160 ; passes 
fugitive-slave law, 161. 

IV., demands papers re- 
lating to Jay treaty, 169. 

v., passes new naturaliza- 
tion law and alien and sedi- 
tion bills, 177. 

X., passes embargo, 201 ; 
enforcing act, 202; forbids 
importation of slaves, 204. 



XL, passes Macon bill No. 
2, 208, adopts rule of pre- 
vious question, 211. 

XII., declares war against 
England, 214. 

XVI. See Compromise, 
Missouri. 

XIX., desires Canada to 
surrender fugitive slaves, 
243. 

XXII., passes compromise 
tariff bill, 263. 

XXXI. See Compromise 
of 1850. 

XXXIII. See Kansas- 
Nebraska bill. 

XXXIV., difficulty in 
electing speaker of House, 
330. 

XXXVL, last to assemble 
under the old regime, 359; 
treasonable utterances, 360 ; 
peace proposals, 369. 

XXXVII., loan bill passed, 
38s ; legal-tender act passed, 
386; slavery prohibited in 
U. S. territories, 394; pe- 
cuniary aid offered States to 
abolish slavery, 394; author- 
izes negro troops, 396; con- 
scription act, 406. 

XXXVIII., 13th amend- 
ment to the constitution 
adopted, 396; preparing for 
reconstruction, 408. 
Connecticut, Hartford founded, 

16; constitution of, 17. 
Conscription act, 406. 
Constitution, U. S., secures 
religious freedom, 118; for- 
mation of (see Constitutional 



422 



INDEX 



Convention) presented to 
Congress, 139; ratified by 
the States, 140; amendments 
to, 140; in Pennsylvania as- 
sembly, 141 ; efforts for 
adoption of, in Massachu- 
setts, 141 ; struggle for 
adoption of, in Virginia, 142; 
in New York, 143; rejoicing 
over adoption, 144; 12th 
amendment adopted, 190 ; 
258; 13th amendment, 370, 
396. 

Constitutional Convention, call 
for, 130 ; convened, 133 ; 
resolved to establish supreme 
government, 133 ; Virginia 
plan, 133 ; Connecticut com- 
promise, 135 ; Madison's com- 
promise, 136 ; 3d compromise, 
136; electoral college, 137; 
supreme court, 138; signing 
of, 139- 

Constitutional Union Party, 
364. 

Contrabands, 393. 

Conway, General, moves re- 
neal of stamp-act, 40 ; 64, 102 ; 
moves cessation of the war, 
105; 106. 

Correspondence, committees of, 
appointed, 58; intercolonial, 
59; circular on tea-tax, 60; 
78. 

Cotton-gin. See Whitney, Eli. 

Cotton, Rev. John^ sermon on 
rotation in office, 18. 

Crawford, William Harris, 235, 
237, 256. 

Crittenden compromise, 369. 

Crittenden, John J., 369. 



Culpepper, Lord, granted col- 
ony Virginia, 8, note. 

Cumberland Road, 234, 271. 

Currency, depreciation of, 121 ; 
differing values, 122; debas- 
ing of, 122 ; national, 122 ; 
paper-money craze, 128 ; mint 
established, 155 ; postal cur- 
rency, 387; fluctuations of 
gold, 387. 

Curtis, Judge Benjamin R., 
Dred Scott decision, 341. 

Curtis, George William, the 
scholar in politics, 333. 



Dalrymple, Colonel, 50; re- 
fuses to remove troops, 54. 

Dana, Francis, 240, 

Davie, Governor, 181. 

Davis, Henry Winter, 410. 

Davis, Jefferson, 301, 310; in 
Pierce's cabinet, 319; 326; on 
attitude of the North, 349; 
351 ; president of Southern 
confederacy, 366; 369; sends 
commissioners to U. S. gov- 
ernment, 376; reply to peace 
commissioners, 412. 

Deane, Silas, 99. 

Dearborn, Henry, 190. 

Declaration of Independence, 
adoption of, 92; reception 
of, 95- 

Declaratory Resolves, 28. 

Democratic (Republican) par- 
ty, origin of, 157; principles 
of democrats and national- 
republicans, 249; democratic 
masses greet Jackson, 253; 
responsible for spoils sys- 



INDEX 



423 



tern, 253 ; loss of power in 
the North, 327 ; disruption 
of, 362. 

Department, of State, treasury 
and war established, 146; of 
the navy, 180; of the inte- 
rior, 297. 

Dickinson, John, farmers' let- 
ters, 47 ; 87, 90 ; opposes 
declaration, 92; drafts Arti- 
cles of Confederation, 95 ; 
132. 

Dix, John A., 301 ; famous 
dispatch, 372. 

Donations, committee of, ad- 
dresses received, 70. 

Douglas, Stephen A., 301 ; on 
fugitive-slave law, 314; in- 
troduces Kansas - Nebraska 
bill, 319; angers the North, 
320; fights for his bill, 321; 
remarks on bill, 324; 343; 
votes with republicans, 346; 
on Lecompton election, 348 ; 
quarrels with Buchanan, 349 ; 
votes against compromise, 
351 ; debates with Lincoln, 
352; defeat at Charleston, 
362; nominated for Presi- 
dent, 363 ; 364 ; patriotism of, 
372. 

Duane, William J., 269. 

Duddingston, Lieutenant, 57. 



Eaton, John H., 254. 

Eaton, Mrs. John H., a cause 
of contention, 255. 

Ellsworth, Oliver, 132 ; pre- 
sents Connecticut compro- 
mise, 135; 181. 



Emancipation proclamation, 
140, 395- 

Embargo acts passed, 201 ; re- 
pealed, 202. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 315, 
2,2,3- 

English, William H., compro- 
mise of, 351. 

Erskine, David Montague, 207. 

Evarts, William M., 364. 

Everett, Edward, 263 ; account 
of, 321 ; on Kansas-Nebraska 
bill, 322 ; 364 ; on northern 
army, 383. 



Federalist Party, origin of, 
139; causes of downfall of, 
178, 184 ; Adams-Hamilton 
feud, 182. 

Fenton, Colonel, attempts to 
bribe Samuel Adams, 75. 

Fessenden, William Pitt, 408. 

Fillmore, Millard, life of, 284, 
302; becomes president, 311; 
317; again nominated for 
president, 333 ; 335. 

Fiske, John, on the town-meet- 
ing, 2; on cession of west- 
ern lands, no; on result of 
slave representation, 136; on 
the men who established the 
government, 185. 

" Florida," Confederate priva- 
teer, 403. 

Floyd, John B., 342, 371. 

Foote, Samuel A., 260; as- 
saults Benton, 312. 

Forcing act, in Rhode Island, 
129. 

Fox, Captain, 376. 



424 



INDEX 



Fox, Charles James, 64; ques- 
tions Lord North, loi ; 102, 
105. 

Franklin, Benjamin, presents 
Albany plan, 26; life of, 82; 
86; postmaster-general, 87; 
89, 92; minister to France, 
99; peace commissioner, 106; 
116, 131, 138; remarks on 
" rising sun " of government, 
139; vigorous measures in 
Pennsylvania assembly, 141 ; 
death of, 141. 

Franklin, State, iii. 

Frederick the Great, 102. 

Free-soil party, 293. 

Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 293. 

Fremont, John C, 332; at- 
tempts to free slaves, 393; 
411. 

Freneau, Philip, attacks Ham- 
Fries, John, 180. [ilton, 159. 

Frothingham, Richard, on in- 
ter-colonial committees of 
correspondence, 59. 

Fugitive-slave laws. See Sla- 
very. 



Gadsden, Christopher, pleads 
for unity of action, 35. 

Gage, General, 35; quartering 
troops, so; 54; governor of 
Massachusetts, 6y ; enforces 
Boston Port bill, 69; 71, 75, 
77, 81. 

Gallatin, Albert, 190; able 
management of treasury, 206 ; 
207, 208; minister to Russia, 
210; peace commissioner, 
216; 218, 242. 



Galloway, Joseph, 76. 
Garrison, William Lloyd, life 

of, 271 ; reply to Rev. M. 

May, 289; 293, 309. 
" Gaspee," revenue schooner, 

57- 

Gates, General Horatio, 113. 

Gaulden, Mr., on benefits of 
negro slavery, 345. 

Genet, Edmond Charles, at- 
tempts to embroil America 
and England, 164. 

Geneva award, 405. 

George HL, English politics 
during reign of, 25 ; approves 
stamp act, 28 ; determined to 
maintain supremacy of the 
crown, 43, 45, 59; proclama- 
tion declaring colonies in 
rebellion, 87 ; hires foreign 
troops, 87, 96; refuses to ac- 
cept Whig ministry, 102; re- 
ceives news of Yorktown, 
104; events following York- 
town, 105 ; receives American 
minister, 117. 

Gerry, Elbridge, 132, 138 ; min- 
inister to France, 176; 214. 

Gilmore, J. R., 412. 

Gladstone, William E., on con- 
stitution of U. S., 133. 

Grafton, Duke of, 88, 106. 

Grant, General Ulysses S., on 
Mexican war, 299; losses in 
Virginia campaign, 384; 411, 

414. 

Green, John R., on responsibil- 
ity for Revolution, 83 ; on 
results of Revolution, 105. 

Green, Mrs. Nathaniel, 223. 

Greeley, Horace, on Missouri 



INDEX 



425 



compromise, 229; 308; on 
Douglas, 321, 324; as peace- 
maker, 412. 
Grenville, George, presents de- 
claratory resolves, 28; on 
stamp act, 38; 41, 167. 



Hamilton, Alexander, 92 ; ad- 
dress to the States, 131; 134, 
138; writes papers of Fed- 
eralist, 143; 147, 149; life of, 
150; financial measures of, 
152; plan for national bank, 
154; argues from the elastic 
clause, 154; report on man- 
ufactures, 15s ; value of his 
reports, 156; leads Federa- 
lists, 157; opposition en- 
countered by, 159; friction 
between Hamilton and Jef- 
ferson, 166; supports Jay 
treaty, 168 ; quarrels with 
Adams, 175, 180, 182; 185; 
duel with Burr, 195 ; char- 
acter of, 196. 

Hamlin, Hannibal, 364. 

Hancock, John, 49; president 
provincial Congress, y2', 81, 
85 ; president continental 
Congress, 86; slights Wash- 
ington, 148. 

Harrison, William Henry, 280, 
283 ; campaign of, 285 ; death, 
286. 

Harte, Bret, " Argonauts of 
'49/' 304. 

Hartford, founded, 16. 

Hayes, Rutherford B., 241. 

Hayne, Robert Y., 260. 

Harvard College founded, 13. 



Helper, Hinton R., 359. 

Henry, Patrick, resolutions on 
stamp act, 34; proposes in- 
ter-colonial Committee of 
Correspondence, 59; jj, 89; 
opposes constitution, 143. 

Hildreth, Richard, traces com- 
mencement of American 
Union, 78. 

Hillsborough, Lord, orders cir- 
cular letter rescinded, 48; 
must humble America, 51. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 2)2>2i '> 
on public opinion, 372. 

Holt, Joseph, 371. 

Hooker, Rev. Thomas, founds 
Hartford, 16; political ser- 
mon, 17. 

Hopkinson, Stephen, on trans- 
portation for trial, 57. 

Houston, Samuel, 279. 

Howe, Lord, 81. 

Howe, William, 81, 85. 

Hunter, General David, 394. 

Hutchinson, Chief-Justice and 
Governor, grants writs of as- 
sistance, 28; mob destroys 
his house, z^; action after 
Boston Massacre, 53 ; action 
regarding tea-ships, 62. 

Independent, newspaper, urges 
republicans to vote, 333 ; on 
John Brown, 359. 

Irving, Washington, 333. 

Jackson, Andrew, wins battle 
of New Orleans, 215 ; in 
Seminole war, 231 ; governor 
of Florida, 232; 235; the 



426 



INDEX 



" people's candidate," 236 ; 
opens campaign, 247 ; elected 
president, 249; makes re- 
movals from office, 253 ; 
Kitchen Cabinet, 254; the 
Eaton affair, 255 ; on nul- 
lification, 261, 264; course 
regarding U. S. Bank, 264, 
268; desires Texas, 278; 280; 
vote of censure on him ex- 
punged, 281 ; life of, 251, 281 ; 
283, 335, 369. 

Jackson, Francis James, 207. 

Jaquess, Rev. Colonel, 412. 

Jay, John, moves address to 
king, 87 ; 92 ; presents Decla- 
ration to Nevir York assem- 
bly. 95; peace commissioner, 
106; 142; writes papers for 
Federalist, 144, 147; life of, 
149; negotiates commercial 
treaty with England, 167; 
elected governor of New 
York, 171. 

Jefferson, Thomas, on the 
township, i; 86, 89; on 
motion for independence, 
91 ; writes Declaration of 
Independence, 92 ; reasons 
for eliminating clause re- 
ferring to slavery, 94; on 
Franklin, 99 ; commissioner 
to negotiate commercial 
treaties, 116; writes Virginia 
statute, 118; 123, 149; leader 
republican party, 157; 166; 
retires from the Cabinet, 167 ; 
172, 179, 181, 182; election 
goes to the house, 183 ; 185 ; 
life of, 187 ; inaugurated, 188 ; 
makes removals from of- 



fice, 189; institutes retrench- 
ment, 189; Cabinet, 190; pur- 
chases Louisiana, 191 ; re- 
elected, 196; efforts- for im- 
proving the navy, 199; re- 
jects a treaty, 200; on at- 
tack on " Chesapeake," 200 ; 
advocates embargo, 201 ; fa- 
vors law forbidding impor- 
tation of slaves, 204; state 
of the treasury under, 205 ; 
retires to Monticello, 205, 
206, 207; death of, 243. 

Johnson, Andrew, 301, 411. 

Johnson, Herschel V., 363. 

Johnson, Reverdy, 301. 

Johnson, Richard M., 281. 

Kansas Conflict, 328, 332; 
carried to Congress, 345 ; 
termination of, 351 ; John 
Brown in, 355. 

Kansas-Nebraska Bill, intro- 
duced, 319; effect on North, 
320; debated, 321; signed, 
324; effect of, 324, 327. 

" Kearsarge," ship of war, de- 
stroys privateer " Alabama," 
404. 

Kendall, Amos, 255. 

King, Rufus, offers motion 
for constitutional convention, 
131 ; letter from Adams to, 
184 ; 221, 242. 

Know-nothing party, 332. 

Knox, General, 149, 180. 

Lafayette, Marquis de, opin- 
ion of American troops, 98; 
revisits America, 236. 



INDEX 



427 



Lane, Joseph, 363. 

Langdon, John, 132. 

Latimer, George, 290. 

Lawrence, town of, destroyed 
by pro-slavery mob, 332. 

Lecky, W. E. H., view of 
American taxation, 44. 

Lecompton Constitution, 346 ; 
Douglas on, 348; contest 
over, 350; compromise meas- 
ure, 351. 

Lee, Arthur, 99. 

Lee, Henry, address on death 
of Washington, 115. 

Lee, Richard Henry, 59 ; offers 
motion for Independence, 91 ; 
presents southern objections 
to a tariff, 126. 

Lee, Robert E., 380, 383, 414. 

Legal-tender act, passed, 386 
and note ; constitutionality 
of, 387. 

Lewis, Chief-Justice, 195. 

Liberator, newspaper. See Gar- 
rison. 

" Liberty," sloop, destroyed, 

49- 
Lincoln, Abraham, 301, 309; 
replies to Douglas, 343 ; life 
of, 352 ; debates with Doug- 
las, 352 ; Cooper - Union 
speech, 360; nominated for 
president, 364 ; elected, 365 ; 
inaugural address, 272 '■> Cab- 
inet, 2>7^'> attempts relief of 
Sumter, 376; on state rights, 
381 ; efforts to retain border 
States, 389 ; replies to delega- 
tion from Maryland, 390; 
suspends writ of habeas cor- 
pus, 390; Congress legalizes 



the call for troops, 391 ; dis- 
content with policy of, 392; 
war powers of, 392, 395 ; sla- 
very policy of, 392 ; emanci- 
pation proclamation, 395 ; 
approves of colored troops, 
396 ; action in " Trent " af- 
fair, 402 ; the heavy trials of, 
405 ; attempts reconstruc- 
tion, 408 ; proclamation of 
amnesty, 409; refuses to 
sign congressional amnesty 
bill, 410; nominated for re- 
election, 411; answers con- 
gratulations, 411; attempts 
for peace, 412 ; second in- 
augural address, 413; death 
of, 415 ; character of, 415. 

Lincoln, General Benjamin, in 
Shays's Rebellion, 130. 

Lincoln-Douglas debates, 352. 

Lincoln, Levi, 190. 

Livingston, Robert R., 92, 
191. 

Livingston, William, 132. 

Loan bill of 1861, 386. 

Loco-Foco party, 280, 287. 

Lodge, Henry Cabot, on John 
Hancock, 148; on Daniel 
Webster, 244, 246, 309. 

Longfellow, Henry W., 333. 

Louisiana, purchase of, 191. 

Lowell, James R., on Mexi- 
can war, 299; on slavery, 
315, 380; on English sym- 
pathy for the South, 399 ; on 
the "bubble of Democracy," 
401 ; letter to C. E. Norton, 
415 ; from essay on Lincoln, 

415. 
Lyon, Mathew, 178, 



428 



INDEX 



Macaulay, Lord, on the 
" king's friends," 46. 

Macon bill No. 2, 208. 

Macon, Nathaniel, 208. 

Madison, " Dolly," 206. 

Madison, James, on financial 
situation, 119, 130; knowledge 
of republican institutions, 
131; journal of constitutional 
convention, 133; 134; pro- 
poses representation for 
slaves, 136; 137; influences 
Congress to accept constitu- 
tion, 139; in the Virginia con- 
vention, 143 ; w^rites papers of 
Federalist, 144; 147; nullifi- 
cation resolves, 179; 185, 190; 
elected president, 205 ; life 
of, 206; friction with British 
ministers, 207 ; disturbed for- 
eign relations, 208 ; Cabinet 
changes, 210; reelected, 214; 
war measury, 214; appoints 
peace commissioners, 216; 
close of administration, 219; 
241 ; on right of secession, 
258. 

Mandamus counsellors, 71. 

Mansfield, Lord, on stamp-act, 

39- 
Marcy, William L., on spoils' 

system, 254 ; 326. 
Marshall, John, 143; "elastic 

clause" decision, 154; 176; 

life of, 185 ; presides at 

Burr's trial, 203. 
Massachusetts, colony of, 3, 4; 

suffrage restricted, 12, 15; 

social and political conditions 

of, 12, 15; dissatisfaction 

with restriction of ballot, 16 ; 



first representative assembly, 
18; charter of, 18; taxation 
secured to the people, 18; 
Boston made seat of govern- 
ment, 19; suffrage extended, 
20; king grants new charter, 
21 ; refuses to pay governor a 
fixed salary, 26. 

Massachusetts Emigrant Aid 
Society, 328. 

Mason, George, on slavery, 
137; 138. 

Mason, James M., 402. 

May, Rev. Samuel J., 289. 

Mayhew, Rev. Jonathan, on 
communion of colonies, 58. 

McCarthy, Justin, on the priv- 
ateer " Alabama," 404. 

McClellan, George B., 411. 

McGillivray, Andrew, 156. 

McHenry, James, 175. 

McMaster, John Bach, on state 
tariffs, 127; on extravagance 
of American sympathy with 
France, 162; on the previous 
question, 211. 

Miller, Phineas, 224. 

Mill, John Stuart, 399. 

Missouri Compromise, contest 
in Congress, 225 ; Maine bill, 
227 ; compromise accepted, 
227; repeal of, moved, 320; 
debate on, 321; signed, 324; 
opinions on repeal, 324; opin- 
ion of Supreme Court on, 
340. 

Monroe Doctrine, 229. 

Monroe, James, 175, 191, 205; 
secretary of state, 210; life 
of, 220; successful adminis- 
tration of, 221 ; visits the 



INDEX 



429 



States, 222) signs Missouri 
Compromise, 228 ; announces 
foreign policy of the U. S., 
229; vetoes bill relating tq 
Cumberland Road, 234; close 
of administration, 237. 

Morris, Gouverneur, life of, 
123; 132; objects to slave 
representation, 135. 

Morris, Robert, life of, 120; 
establishes Bank of North 
America, 120; efforts of, to 
maintain national credit, 124; 
132. 

Morse, J. T. Jr., on embargo, 
200; on J. Q. Adams' candi- 
dacy, 236. 

Motley, John L., on right of 
secession, 258. 

Murray, William Vans, 181. 



Napoleon I., amends treaty, 
182 ; reasons for sale of 
Louisiana, 192; accepts Ma- 
con bill, 209; 221. 

Napoleon III., 231; 398. 

Native American Party, 293; 
revived, ZZ^- 

Navigation lavi^s, English, 9, 
125. 

Nevi^ England, United Colonies 
of, 16. 

New^ Haven, settlement of, 17. 

" New " Naturalization Act, 
provisions of, 177; 190. 

Nicolay and Hay, on republican 
position, 369 ; incident of 
northern armies' entrance 
into Richmond, 414. 

North, Lord, prime minister, 



47; must humble America, 
51 ; " Sam Adams' Regi- 
ments," 55 ; remarks on tea 
tax, 59; introduces retalia- 
tory measures, 63; contempt 
for colonial union, 69; pre- 
sents repeal bill, 100; weak- 
ness of character of, loi ; re- 
plies to Fox, loi ; receives 
news of Yorktown, 104; re- 
signs, 105. 

Northwest Territory, 109; land 
ceded to, no; government 
organized for, in. 

Nullification Resolves, 179. 



Ohio admitted to the union, 
190. 

Ordinance of 1787, in. 

Oregon Question. See Polk, 
James K. 

Otis, James, on writs of assist- 
ance, 27; 31 ; proposes a con- 
gress, 35; ordered sent to 
England for trial, 49. 



Paine, Thomas, " Common 
Sense," 89. 

Pakenham, Mr. (afterward 
Sir) Richard, 298. 

Parker, Theodore, 308, 313. 

Paxton, Charles, uses writs of 
assistance, 27. 

Pendleton, George H., 411. 

Penn, Richard, 87. 

Phillips, Wendell, joins aboli- 
tion movement, 273; 293, 313, 
325 ; on union meetings, 368, 

Pickens, Francis W., 377. 



43° 



INDEX 



-/ 



Pickering, Timothy, 175. 

Pierce, Franklin, 283, 317; 
elected, 319; signs Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, 324; issues 
proclamation relating to 
Cuba, 326; 336. 

Pinckney, Charles C, i75. 176, 
183, 205. 

Pitt, William (Lord Chat- 
ham), on stamp act, 37; 41, 
44; on quartering troops in 
Boston, 66; on papers of 
continental Congress, 78 ; 
moves address for removal 
of troops from Boston, 80; 
introduces bill for repeal of 
acts objectionable to Amer- 
ica, 82; declares America 
cannot be conquered, 100; 
102; last speech and death 
of, 103. 

Pitt, William (the Younger), 
103 ; Burke's epigram on, 
105; 117. 

Polk, James K., 283, 292, 294; 
inaugurated, 296 ; measures 
of administration of, 296; 
treatment of Oregon ques- 
tion, 297 ; efforts to obtain 
Texas, 298; declares war on 
Mexico, 299; desires con- 
gressional appropriations, 
300 ; reasons for signing 
Oregon bill, 301 ; close of 
administration, 302; 317, 

335- 

Preston, Captain, 53, 55. 

Puritans, of New England, 
austere faith, 12; restricted 
suffrage, 12, 15 ; church gov- 
ernment, 13 ; established 



common school system in 
Massachusetts, 13 ; social 
conditions, 14, 15. 



Quebec act, 64. 
Quids, 204. 

Quincy, Josiah 55, 219. 
Quitman, Governor, 327. 



Randolph, Edmund, 132; pre- 
sents plan of federal govern- 
ment, 133; 138, 143, 149. 

Randolph, Sir Edmund, 20. 

Randolph, John (of Roanoke), 
life of, 204; in an exciting 
debate, 211; on women in 
Congress, 227 ; uses term 
" doughfaces," 229 ; abuses 
Adams' administration, 247; 
duel with Clay, 248. 

Randolph, Peyton, 76, 86. 

Raymond, Henry J., 323. 

Rebellion, Shays', 130; Whis- 
key insurrection, 154; Indian 
outbreak in Northwest Ter- 
ritory, 157; Fries' Rebellion, 
180. 

Refugees, 108. 

Regulating bill, 63. 

Republican, Democratic. See 
Democratic party. 

Republican party, strength- 
ened by a book, 316; ele- 
ments of, 327; dubbed Black 
Republicans, 327 ; triumph 
of, 363- 

Revere, Paul, 85. 

Rhode Island, Providence 
founded, 17; charter of, 18; 



INDEX 



431 



forcing act, 129; late in en- 
tering union, 140. 

Rhodes, James Ford, on Web- 
ster, 309; on returning tq 
slavery Anthony Burns, 326; 
on Taney's decision, 342. 

Richmond, Duke of, 102, 103, 
106. 

Richmond Inquirer, newspa- 
per, on Brooks' attack on 
Sumner, 331. 

Rockingham, Marquis of, 102, 
105. 

" Romney," English frigate, 49. 

Rotch, Benjamin, efforts to 
land tea at Boston, 60, 62. 

Rush, Richard, 231, 232, 242. 

Russell, Jonathan, 216. 

Russell, Lord, 403, 405. 

Rutledge, John, 132. 



Sargent, Nathan, on Jackson 

and U. S. Bank, 266. 
Schouler, James, on Hamilton, 

196; plea for South, 224; on 

Jackson and U. S. Bank, 265 ; 

on 36th Congress, 359. 
Schurz, Carl, on Treaty of 

Ghent, 217; on Clay, 248, 

294. 
Schuyler, Elizabeth, 152. 
Schuyler, Philip, 82, 152. 
Scott, Dred, case of, 2)2>7- 
Scott, General Winfield S., 

262, 301, 302, 317. 
Sedition act, 177, 190. 
Semmes, Captain Raphael, 404. 
Sevier, John, iii. 
Seward, William H., 290; on 

Texas and slavery, 295 ; on 



compromise of 1850, 309; on 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, 321 ; 
Rochester speech, 354; 364; 
letter to wife, 368; 376; ad- 
vocates evacuation of Sum- 
ter, 377 ; arbitrary arrests 
ordered by, 391 ; 395 ; con- 
duct of Trent affair, 402 ; 
407. 

Seymour, Sir Edward, reply to 
Rev. James Blair, 10. 

Shays, Daniel, 130. 

Shelburne, Lord, 106. 

" Shenandoah," southern priva- 
teer, 405. 

Sherman, John, 359, 

Sherman, Roger, 92, 132; pre- 
sents Connecticut Compro- 
mise, 135. 

Sherman, William, T., 414. 

Silliman, Professor Benjamin, 
329- 

Slavery, introduction of, 4; 
prohibited in Northwest Ter- 
ritory, in; question of, 
in constitutional convention, 
137 ; fugitive-slave law, 161 ; 
importation of slaves forbid- 
den, 204; why the South de- 
sired slavery, 224, 315; aboli- 
tion movement, 272, 289, 293 ; 
anger of the North over re- 
turn of fugitive slaves, 290 ; 
California for freedom, 303 ; 
new fvigitive-slave law, 312; 
position of North and South 
on, 336; Mr. Gaulden's 
opinion of, 345 ; status of 
slaves during Civil War, 
392; efforts to free slaves, 
393 ; emancipation proclama- 



432 



INDEX 



ton, 395; 13th amendment 
ratified by the States, 396. 

Slidell, John, 298, 344. 402. 

Sloane, W. M., on origin of 
term " Continental," 68. 

Smith, Caleb B., 376, 377- 

Smith, Gerritt, 355. 

Smith, Robert, 190, 210. 

Spoliation claims, 182. 

Stamp act, signed by king, 
32; opposition in America, 
36; speeches in Parliament 
against, 37; repeal of, 41. 

Stanton, Edwin M., 371, 4o8. 

State rights, under the consti- 
tution, 257 ; Madison's views 
of, 258; Motley's views of, 
258; Judge Story on, 259. 

St. Clair, General, defeated in 
Indian campaign, 157. 

Stephens, Alexander H., on con- 
stitution of Confederacy, 366 ; 
on secession, 366 ; life of, 368. 

Story, Judge Joseph, on right 
of secession, 259; on Jack- 
son's inauguration, 253. 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, in- 
fluence of her book, 316. 

Strong, Caleb, 132. 

Sub-Treasury, established, 285 ; 
law establishing repealed, 
287 ; reestablished, 297. 

Suffolk Resolves, 77. 

Suffrage, granted in Virginia, 
6 ; restricted, 7 ; restricted in 
New England, 12, 15; dis- 
satisfaction with, 16; restric- 
tions lessened in Massachu- 
setts, 20; in Massachusetts 
property qualifications only, 



Sumner, Charles, 313; on 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," 317; 
life of, 321 ; on Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, 321 ; moves re- 
peal fugitive-slave law, 326; 
speech on Kansas, 330; as- 
saulted by Brooks, 331. 

Sumner, Professor W. G., on 
J. Q. Adams, 246; on An- 
drew Jackson, 281. 

Sumter, Fort, efforts for re- 
lief of, 370, 277; attack on 
378. 



Taney, Chief Justice Roger 
B., Dred Scott decision, 337. 

Tariff, national tariff pro- 
posed, 126; state, 127; of 
" abominations," 256 ; of 

1832, 261 ; compromise of 

1833, 263; of 1842, 289; of 
1846, 296; of 1861, 386. 

Taylor, John W., 228. 

Taylor, Zachary, 283 ; in Mex- 
ican War, 298; 301; elected, 
302 ; inaugurated, 303 ; posi- 
tion regarding admission of 
California, 303, 310; death 

of, 311; 335- 

Texas, settlement of, 278 ; be- 
comes independent, 279 ; ad- 
mitted to the Union, 295. 

Thayer, Eli, 328. 

Thomas, Senator, moves Mis- 
souri Compromise, 227. 

Thompson, Jacob, 342, 371. 

Tompkins, Daniel D., 221. 

Tories, origin of, 31 ; 43, 88. 

Toucey, Isaac, 342. 

Town meeting, principles of, 



INDEX 



433 



I, 2; to represent the com- 
monwealth of Massachu- 
setts, 49; to deal with Bos- 
ton Massacre, 54; to prevent 
landing of tea, 61 ; address 
of Boston town meeting on 
independence, 90. 

Townshend, Charles, revenue 
legislation of, 44, 45, 47. 

Townshend Revenue Act, pro- 
visions of, 45 ; 47 ; repealed, 
51, 56. 

Treasury Department, lack of 
funds, 98, 123; organized, 
119; expenditures in Civil 
War, 385; legal tender is- 
sues, 386. 

Treaty of Paris, 24; French 
Treaty and Alliance, 99; of 
Peace with England, 106; 
territory ceded by, 107; of 
peace with Morocco, 118; 
Jay treaty, 167 ; with France, 
181 ; with Barbary States, 
193; of Ghent, 216; Ash- 
burton, 288 ; of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, 300 ; Clayton-Bul- 
wer, 310. 

" Trent," English mail steamer, 
the "Trent" affair, 402. 

Tribune, newspaper, on Lin- 
coln's Cooper-Union speech, 
360; on secession, 368. 

Trist, N. P., 300. 

Tryon, Governor, 57. 

Tyler, John, 283, 285; takes 
oath of office, 287 ; course 
regarding national banks, 
287 ; furthers Ashburton 
Treaty, 288; 289; efforts to 
gain Texas, 290, 295 ; 335. 



Underground Railroad, 328. 
United States, government of, 

I ; flag of, 88yand note; name 

of, 92. 



Van Buren, John, on Kan- 
sas-Nebraska bill, 320. 

Van Buren, Martin, 247, 254; 
in Jackson's cabinet, 256; 
268; nominated for presi- 
dent, 280 ; 283 ; inaugurated, 
284; panic of 1837, 284; 286, 
302, 335- 

Victoria, Queen, speech from 
throne January, 1900, 24. 

Virginia, social conditions of, 
4; ballot granted in, 6; politi- 
cal conditions, 7, 8; suffrage 
restricted in, 7 ; resolutions 
on colonial position, 51 ; non- 
importation scheme, 52 ; pre- 
sents plan of federal govern- 
ment, 134. 

Virginia, West, 389. 

Von Hoist, Herman E., on 
Calhoun, 235, 256; on na- 
tionalization of slavery, 292; 
on Calhoun's last speech, 
307 ; on John Brown, 356. 



Walker, Francis, on mechan- 
ical genius of American 
people, 119; on conduct of 
the French, 198. 

Walker, Robert J., action in 
Kansas, 346. 

War, Seven Years', 24, 27 ; ex- 
penditures of Seven Years', 
28; conditions in England 



434 



INDEX 



and America in War of Rev- 
olution, 96; with Barbary 
States, 193; of 1812, 214, 
215; Seminole, 231 ; Mexican, 
299; Civil War, fall of Sum- 
ter, 378; conditions north 
and south, 379, 383; loss of 
States, 193; of 1812, 214, 215; 
416; cost of, 385; English 
sympathy for the South, 398 ; 
southern privateers, 403 ; 
discontent at the North, 406; 
draft riot, 407 ; Proclamation 
of Amnesty, 409; efforts for 
peace, 412; close of, 414. 

Warren, Dr. Joseph, address 
on anniversary of Boston 
Massacre, y2, "]},. 

Washington, George, T^t '■, ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief, 
86; life of, 86; 89; army 
troubles, 97; action on the 
Cincinnati, 108 ; Newburgh 
letter, 113; urges soldiers' 
claims, 114; "Legacy to 
American People," 115; re- 
tires to Mt. Vernon, 115; on 
lack of unity, 116; 130; chair- 
man constitutional conven- 
tion, 133, 137 ; letter on con- 
stitution, 142 ; made presi- 
dent, 145 ; organizes the gov- 
ernment. 146; social features 
of administration, 147; visits 
Massachusetts, 148; qualifi- 
cations for Cabinet officers, 
149; 152; puts down Whiskey 
insurrection, 154; receives 
Creek Indians, 156; changes 
in political parties, 157; 
159; reelected president, 160; 



second term, 162; policy of 
neutrality, 163 ; Genet affair, 
164; Jay treaty, 167; opposi- 
tion to treaty, 168; attacked 
in Aurora, 171 ; Farewell 
Message, 172; appointed to 
command of army, 180; 
death of, 182; 185, 207. 

Wayne, Anthony, breaks power 
of Indians in Northwest 
Territory, 157. 

Webb, James Watson, 323. 

Webster, Daniel, on Ordi- 
nance of 1787, hi; memorial 
address, 243 ; life of, 244 ; re- 
ply to Hayne, 260; 262, 280, 
281, 283, 285; negotiates 
Ashburton treaty, 288; on 
abolition movement, 289 ; 
293> 301, 302, 304; 7th of 
March speech, 307; anger of 
the North against, 308; 313, 
317; death of, 318; 336. 

Weed, Thurlow, 323. 

Welles, Gideon, 376. 

West Point established, 190. 

Whigs, rise of party, 31; 43; 
American cause favored by 
English Whigs, 102 ; the new 
party formed, 280; in Harri- 
son campaign, 285 ; loss of 
power, 317, 2,2T- 

Whitney, Eli, life of, 223. 

Whittier, John G., occasion of 
the poem " Ichabod," 308; 

333- 
Wide Awake Clubs, 365. 
Wilkes, Captain Charles, in 

" Trent " affair, 402. 
Wilkinson, General, 203. 
Williams, Roger, founds Prov- 



INDEX 



435 



idence, 17 ; obtains charter 
for Rhode Island, 18. 

Willis, N. P., 223- 

Wilmot Proviso, 300, 303, 335. 

Wilson, Henry, on the abroga- 
tion of the Missouri Com- 
promise, 324. 

Winthrop, John, 18. 

Winthrop, Robert C, 301. 



Winthrop, Theodore, on march 

of 7th Regiment, 382. 
Wise, Henry A., 357. 
Wise, Rev. John, 21. 
Wolcott, Oliver, Jr., 175. 
Wyandotte, town, 351. 



Yancey, William L., 363. 



GORDY'S HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES 
IN THE UNITED STATES 

- In Four Volumes. 

Vol. I, 1783-1809. SECOND EDITION, THOROUGHLY RE- 
VISED. 598 pp. 12010. $1.75, net, special. 

This volume by itself presents a well-rounded history of the 
Federal Period. It is intended for the thoughtful reader without much 
previous knowledge of the subject. 

Nation (ist notice): "May be read not only by beginners, but by 
almost anybody, with profit. It is written in a clear and simple style, 
is entirely non-partisan, and makes the causes of the early party struggles 
much clearer than many a more elaborate account." 

Nation (2d notice) : " Four years ago we had an opportunity to pro- 
nounce a favorable judgment on it. . . . Now there is much e,xtension in 
addition to a thorough revision. . . . The opening sentences (no mean cri- 
terion often) are of a nature to whet the appetite for what is to come." 

Boston Herald : " Dr. Gordy writes easily and vivaciously, and makes 
his 'parties' as interesting as if they were persons, . . . but his best 
quality is his impartiality." 

Chicago Evening Post: "Most interesting to the student of history. 
. . . The history of the Federalist party is traced up to its defeat by the 
Republicans in 1800, the issues then and in the contests that followed be- 
ing clearly defined and fully explained." 

Chicago Tribune: "The book is well worth careful study, for the 
author's research has been wide and deep, his judgment is good, and he is 
apparently free from political or sectional bias. The working out of our 
national destiny between the Jeffersonian party's fear of centralized gov- 
ernment and the Hamiltonian party's fear of disorder and injustice from a 
government of the unthinking rabble, is well set forth in the present vol- 
ume, which brings the story down to the end of Jefferson's administra- 
tion." 

Public Opinion: "This is the most pretentious book of the kind that 
has yet been attempted, and in point of detail of treatment and historical 
comprehensiveness it is not far from the best." 

Brooklyn Daily Eagle : " Gives promise of being the most comprehen- 
sive and scholarly discussion of the kind that has yet been produced." 

World''s Work : " A book of first-hand research, useful for reference." 

Hartford Courant : " A well-constructed work . . . of great value." 

Providence Journal : " The general tone of the book is admirable. On 
every page careful research is shown. It is, perhaps, not too much to say 
that it is likeh' to become a standard work on this subject." 

HENRY HOLT & CO. ^^ ^^i;.^f ^r^^^* 



KUHNS'S GERMAN AND SWISS SETTLEMENTS 
OF COLONIAL PENNSYLVANIA 

A Study of the 50-calied Pennsylvania Dutch, 

By Oscar Kuhns, Member of the Pennsylvania Society of the 
Sons of the Revolution, of the Pennsylvania-German Society, 
and of the Lancaster County Historical Society. 268 pp. izmo. 

$1.50. 

" All that is best in their history is compressed into this little volume, 
and even their defenders will be surprised to learn how much romance 
there is in the story of tlieir sufferings in the Palatinate, and how much 
spiritual exaltation there was baclc of their emigration to America. . . . 
The author's account of the religious faith and feeling of the German 
Quakers is written with great sympathy and insight, and his apology for 
the deep-seated conservatism of the Pennsylvania Dutch is skillfully 
made." — Outlook. 

"An historical work of peculiar and capital interest. . . . A chapter 
in modern history, particularly in American history, which Americans in 
whatever part of the country cannot afford to be ignorant of. . . . The 
writer has managed with extraordinary skill to infuse into his narrative 
the constant element of personal interest, so that the whole story is trans- 
fused with the spirit of a fascinating romance."— C//zVaio Evening Post. 

" Ein erschopfendes Bild jener einwanderung, dasssich durch sachliche 
Ruhe und Unparteilichkeit auszeichnet und einer ausfuhrlichen Besprech- 
ung werth ist. . . . So interessant auch die Ausfuhrungen des Verfassers 
liber die vielen Sekten sind, die theils sich hier niederlieszen, theils hier 
gebildet wurden, so kbnnen wir ihm darin nicht folgen." — N. Y. Staats- 
Zeitung. 

"No more exhaustive account of the origin, emigration and subsequent 
history of the early German and Swiss settlers in Pennsylvania than this 
has yet been issued. . . . The appendix concerning the change in form 
undergone by many Pennsylvania-German family names, the bibliograi>hy, 
and index contribute greatly to the interest and practical importance of 
Mr. Kuhns's valuable monograph." — Philadelphia Ledger. 

" It is a first-rate service to the cause of American history which Oscar 
Kuhns has rendered in his popular yet scholarly book. . . . An exceedingly 
interesting and instructive story." — Chicago Record-Herald. 

McCRACKAN>S RISE OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC 

A History. By W. D. McCrackan. Second Edition, Revised 
and Enlarged, x +423 pp. 8vo. $2.00. 

"This is the most convenient and serviceable book in English on Swiss 
history and development, and America has much to learn from the experi- 
ence of our sister republic." — Prof. Albert B. Hart, of Harvard. 

" It seems to me that you have happily blended the picturesque treat- 
ment which some parts of Swiss history demand, with the object of bring- 
ing out the political lesson of the last thirty or fitty years. I trust your 
book may do much to show our people, as well as yours, how much is to 
be learned from a study of Swiss affairs." — The Right Hon. James Bryce, 
M.P. 

" All things considered, this history seems to me to be far and away the 
best Swiss history ever yet published in English." — English Historical 
Review. 

HENRY HOLT & CO. ^^ ^^e^^l^.^^^* 



SECOND IMPRESSION. 

FORD'S THE FEDERALIST. 

Edited by Paul Leicester Ford, editor of the writings o^ 
'jefferson; Bibliography of the Constitution of the United 
States, 1787-1788 ; Pamphlets on the Constitution of the 
United States. Ixxvii + 793 pp. Large lamo. $i.75, ntt. 

The present edition is the first in which any attempt has been made to 
illustrate, in foot-notes, not merely the obscure passages in the text, but 
also the subsequent experience of the United States and other countries 
where they relate to the views expressed by the authors. The most 
authentic text has been used; the antiquated and often absurd punctua- 
tion — largely due to incompetent early printers — has been rationalized; 
and an introduction, abundant cross-references, and z.fullindex materially 
increase the value of this edition for both students and lawyers. Matter of 
obsolete or minor interest has been put in distinctive type. Aa appen- 
dix of 149 pages contains The Constitution with all the amendments, and 
the references to U. S. Reports, besides other documents important in 
coastitutional developement. 

Roger Foster, author of Commentaries on the Constitution : " The 
best edition of The Federalist that has been published." 

Right Hon. James Bryce : " Far the best [edition] I have seen, and the 
iaost likely to be useful to students of '^^litical science." 

New York Tribune : " Mr. Ford's editing is nothing less than perfect. 
, . . Printed handsomely and published in a convenient size, this is an 
invaluable edition, calculated to be of service not only to the politician 
and lawyer, but to every thoughtful citizen." 

Review of Reviews : " Mr. Ford has the habit of thoroughness in a 
very remarkable degree; . . . not only great ability, but rare opportunities 
and invaluable experience. ... A soundly edited text; ... an introductory 
essay which really puts the touch of iinality upon questions that have 
been in dispute for nearly a century. . . . For the purposes of critical study 
and precise reference Mr. Ford's edition, it seems to us, must of necessity 
exclude all others. Quite apart from the extremely valuable editorial 
work included in the introductory part of the volume, Mr. Ford's index 
{The Federalist has never before been indexed) would entitle him to a 
vote of thanks by Congress." 

Pro/. Edward G. Bourne, of Yale : " The most useful edition for the 
working student." 

The Dial: "Mr. Paul Leicester Ford has many titles to the gratitude 
of students interested in American history, and none more clear than 
that which is due him for his edition of The Federalist. . . . The work 
is admirably done in all important respects, and should be upon the desk 
of every teacher of American constitutional history." 

Pro/. Carl Evans Boyd, of University of Chicago : " His edition leaves 
nothing to be desired, and will undoubtedly become the standard." 

The Outlook: "A singularly illuminative introduction; . . , one of 
the best planned and most valuable contributions ever made towards the 
cloarer understanding of our history." 



HENRY HOLT & CO.. ^ ^^'^^%%?^'^'^ 



ALDEN'S ART OF DEBATE 

By Dr. R. M. Alden, Univ. of Pennsylvania. xv + a79pp. i6mo. $i.oo, «^^. 

Prof. George B. Churchill, Amherst College : "I think it is by 
far the best book we have on this subject for college or general use. It is 
methodical, careful and full. While comprehensive, it is easily grasped, which 
cannot be said of all the discussions in some of the best recent books on Argu- 
mentation." 

Prof F. N. Scott, University of Michigan : "■ It is a fresh and inter- 
esting treatment of the subject, packed with ideas expressed in a most delight- 
ful and taking way." 

RINGWALT'S AMERICAN ORATORY 



Selections, with introduction and notes by Ralph C. Ringwalt, formerly 
Instructor in Columbia University. 334 pp. izmo. %\. 00, net. 

Contains Schurz's General Amnesty, Jeremiah S. Black's Trial by Jury, 
Phillips's Daniel O' Coniiell, Depew's Inaiiguration of IVashington, Curtis's 
The Leadership of Educated Men, Henry W. Grady's The New South, and 
Beecher's The Sepulchre in the Garden. 

Prof. F. N. Scottj University 0/ 31 ichigan : " An extremely sensible 
book." 

Prof. D. L. Maulsby, 7'?</i'j C<?//^^^.' " The opening essay is the best 
on its subject that I have seen of recent years. It shows grasp on both the 
early and later literature of the subject, and is thoroughly alive to modern 
conditions." 

Prof. A. G. Newcomer, Leland Stanford University: " The essay 
on the theory of oratory is one of the most sensible and at the same time stim- 
ulating essays of the kind I have ever seen." 

WAGNER'S MODERN POLITICAL ORATIONS (BRITish) 

Edited by Leopold Wagner. XV + 344PP. izmo. %i.qo, net. 

A collection of some of the most notable examples of the political oratory of 
the present reign. Includes Brougham on Negro Emancipation; Fox and 
Cobden on the Corn Laws ; Brighton the Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act; 
Butt and Morley on Home Rule ; Gladstone on the Beaconsfield Ministry ; 
Parnell on the Coercion Bill ; and others by Beaconsfield, Russell, Randolph 
Churchill, Chamberlain, Macaulay, Bulwer-Lytton, McCarthy, etc., etc. 

POLITICAL PAMPHLETS 

By Burke, Steele, Saxby, Halifax, Arbuthnot, Swift, Bolingbroke, and 
"Junius." Edited by A. F. Pollard. Bound in one volume. Pamph- 
let Library. i2mo. Cloth, $1.75, net, special. 

The Nation: "The selections are very well chosen. . . . Deserves well of 
book-buyers in point of matter and form." 

HENRY HOLT & CO. ^^ ^^^^^^rr"*** 



LAVIGNAC>S MUSIC AND MUSICIANS 

By Prof. Albert Lavignac, of the Paris Conservatory, author 
of The Music Dramas pf Richard Wagner, Edited for America 
by H. E. Krehbiel, author of How to Listett to Music, and trans- 
lated by William Marchant. With 94 illustrations and 510 ex- 
amples in musical notation, zd Edition. 504 pp. 8vo. $3.00. 

•'It is impossible to speak too highly of this volume" {Literary- 
Review, Boston). — "The most comprehensive reference-work on music 
published in a single volume and accessible to readers of English " 
(Review 0/ Reviews). — "An encyclopaedia from which all manner of 
curious facts may be drawn" {Literary World). — "A musical library 
in iX'&^M''^ (Chicago Tribune). — "A cyclopsedia of knowledge concern- 
ing^ his art" {Christian Register). — "It adds a great deal that the 
student of music is not likely to get elsewhere " {Springfield Re- 
publican). — "The most complete and perfect work of its kind" {The 
Home Journal, New York). — " For the musical student and music teacher 
invaluable if not indispensable " (Buffalo Commercial). — " He has ap- 
portioned his pages with rare good judgment" {Churchmafi). — " It is of 
all things thorough " {Brooklyn Eagle). — "There is nothing superfi- 
cial about it " {Hartford Conrant). — " It has a reliability and authority 
which give it the highest value " {Chicago Tribune). — " Distinctly scien- 
tific " {Providence Journal). — " It seems to have been his desire to let no 
interesting topic escape. . . . The wonder is that those parts of the book 
which ought to be dry are so readable. ... A style which can fairly 
be described as fascinating" {N. Y. Times). — "Free from superfluous 
technicalities" {Providence Journal). — " He has covered the field with 
French clarity and German thoroughness" {Springfield Republican). 
— " Not too technical to be exceedingly useful and enjoyable to every 
intelligent \^&&^r'''' {Hartford Courant). — "Lightened with interesting 
anecdotes" (Brooklyn Eagle). — " He writes brilliantly : even the laziest 
or most indifferent will find that he chains the attention and makes a 
perusal of the history of music a delightful recreation " {N, Y, Home 
fournal). 

Circular on application. 

LUCAS' THE OPEN ROAD 

A little book for wayfarers, bicycle-wise and otherwise. Com- 
piled by E. V. Lucas. With illustrated cover-lininto. Green and 
gold flexible covers. i2mo. f 1.50. 

Some 135 poems and 25 prose passages, representing over 60 
authors, including Fitzgerald, Shelley, Shakespeare, Kenneth 
Grahame, Stevenson, Whitman, Bliss Carman, Browning, William 
Watson, Keats, Wordsworth, Matthew Arnold, Tennyson, William 
Morris, Maurice Hewlett, Izaak Walton, William Barnes, Herrick, 
Dobson, Lamb, Milton, Whittier, etc. 

LUCAS> A BOOK OF VERSES FOR CHILDREN 

Over 200 poems, representing some 80 authors. With title-page 
and cover-lining pictures in color, and cover in three colors and 
gilt. Revised Edition, izmo. $2.00. 

Chicago Evening Post: "Will interest the old hardly less than 
the young." 

Critic: "We know of no other anthology for children so com- 
plete and well arranged." 

Descriptive circular on application. 

HENRY HOLT & CO. ^^ ^^IX.^^%.T^^ 



"More entertaining than any fiction." 

— Literary World. 

3d Impression of a remarkable book that is attracting atten-^ 
Hon in tlie United States, Great Britain, and Germany, 

THE COURTOT MEMOIRS 

The Memoirs of the Baroness Cecile de Courtot, Lady- 
in-Waiting to the Princess de Lamballe. Edited by 
MoRiTz VON Kaisenberg. Translated by Miss Jessie 
Haynes. 298 pp. 8vo. $2.00. 

This notable narrative of the love and adventures of 
the Baroness includes remarkably vivid descriptions of 
France during the Terror, Prussia under Frederick Will- 
iam III. and the beautiful Queen Louise, and France 
under the all-powerful First Consul. 

jV. Y. Times Saturday Review : " It has all the charm of a 
good historical novel. . . . The entire volume will be found 
of much interest, mainly through the great human interest 
centring around the friendship of these two devoted women, 
Cecile and Annaliebe, as well as through the historical details 
introduced, which are all graphically and fully treated." 

Outlook: " This delightful Memoir. . . . Some of the most 
interesting impressions of the great ruler [Napoleon] which 
have yet appeared. The Memoir reads like a novel." 

N. V. Triiune : " The book is one of the strangest and most 
amusing ever produced in the department of revolutionary 
literature. . . . The Baroness is charming, and has much 
to say about many interesting personalities and events." 

Fail Mall Gazette (London): "We are admitted behind the 
scenes and mingle with the actors in perhaps the most power- 
ful drama the world has ever witnessed. ... A most fascina- 
ting book. Here is a period that we have read about from our 
youth up . . . and we might almost say that we see it now 
for the first time." 

Home Journal : "The pages are certainly of unusual inter- 
est, showing intimacy with personages and places, and throw- 
ing such light on them that we seem to see them almost 
as if we were eye-witnesses. . . . Filled with tragedy and 
romance." 

HENRY HOLT & CO. ^^ ^^t^^%l''^^' 

VII, 1900 



42d Impression of a New York Novel 

THE HON. PETER STIRLING 

AND WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF HIM 

By Paul Leicester Ford. i2mo, cloth. $1.50. 

The Nation: " Floods of light on the raison d'itre, origin, and methods 
of the dark figure that directs the destinies of our cities. ... So strongly 
imagined and logically drawn that it satisfies the demand for the appear- 
ance of truth in art. . . . Telling scenes and incidents and descriptions of 
political organization, all of which are literal transcripts of life and fact — 
not dry irrelevancies thrown in by way of imparting information, but lively 
detail, needful for a clear understanding of Stirling's progress from the 
humble chairmanship of a primary to the dictator's throne. . . . In the use 
of dramatic possibilities Mr. Ford is discreet and natural, and without 
giving Stirling a heroic pose, manages to win for him very hearty sym- 
pathy and belief. Stirling's private and domestic story is well knit with 
that of his public adventures. ... A very good novel." 

Tke Atlantic Monthly: " Commands our very sincere respect; . . . 
there is no glaring improbability about his story; . . . the highly dramatic 
crisis of the story. . . . The tone and manner of the book are noble. . , . 
A timely, manly, thoroughbred, and eminently suggestive book." 

The Review of Reviews : "His relations with women were of uncon- 
ventional sincerity and depth. . . . Worth reading on several accounts." 

The Dial : " One of the strongest and most vital characters that have 
appeared in our fiction. ... A very charming love story. To discern the 
soul of good in so evil a thing as municipal politics calls for sympathies 
that are not often united with a sane ethical outlook; but Peter Stirling is 
possessed of the one without losing his sense of the other, and it is this 
combination of qualities that make him so impressive and admirable a 
figure. . . . Both a readable and an ethically helpful book." 

The New York Tribune : " A portrait which is both alive and easily 
recognizable." 

The New York Times : "Mr. Ford's able political novel." 

The Literary World : " A fine, tender love story. ... A very unusual, 
but, let us believe, a possible character. . . . Peter Stirling is a man's 
hero. . . . Very readable and enjoyable." 

The Independent : " Full of life. The interest never flags. ... It is 
long since we have read a better novel or one more thoroughly and natu- 
rally American." 

The Boston Advertiser: " Sure to excite attention and win popularity." 

The Brooklyn Eagle : "A love and labor story; . . . terribly pictur- 
esque. . . . Abundance of humor." 

Tke Baltimore Sun: "The team of politics and love drive very well 
together. . . . Mr. Ford has created a very effective character U.rfder very 
difficult circumstances." 

HENRY HOLT & CO., ^^ ^^^^^^.r''^^* 



2d Impression of 

THE FORTUNE OF WAR 

By Miss ELIZABETH BARROW. i2mo. $1.25. 

A vivid romance, the scene of v^rhich is laid in Nevy York 
City during the British Occupation in the Revolution. 

N", y. Times Saturday Review : "The story is a good one, 
the historical data accurate, and the ways and manners of the 
period are cleverly presented. . . . The love plot is absorb- 
ing, and will be found by many readers even more fascinating 
than the faithful reproduction of the manners and customs of 
the time. ... It is quite safe to say that this book vies in 
excellence with some of the historical romances which have 
caused more general comment. No doubt it will gradually 
grovy into a larger popularity. 

The tit look : "Miss Elizabeth Barrow has done her work 
not only well, but delightfully well." 

The htdependent : "A short tale, and a very good one. . . . 
A story of the Revolutionary War, romantic to a degree and 
very charmingly told." 

Chicago Times-Herald : "Another tale of the time of Wash- 
ington, but one that is more deserving both of popular and 
critical appreciation than some of the much-vaunted financial 
successes." 

Springfield Republican : "It gives a good picture of New 
York City as it was in the eighteenth century. . . . The story 
is agreeable reading." 

Hartford Coiirant : "She has done good work in her 
romance ; ... it is told in a very attractive way. . . . The 
book is decidedly one that will entertain." 

Christian Register : "Miss Barrow has been successful in 
depicting the condition of New York City at the time the 
British were quartered there. . . It is a bright, pleasant tale." 

The Churchman : "The book furnishes an interesting side- 
light upon the estimation in which the Americans were held 
by the upper classes of the British through the greater part of 
th^ Revolutionary struggle." 

HENRY HOLT & CO. ^^ ^•Sll.^^S,^"'* 



C 15- 80 






V 







4* -^^ 





S' 'Ci 



*^, »> 













<'J^ c " " " ♦ ^J*^ 

'"' v^' ^4^ ""' ^ ^ 



•^*.<'* 

'^•V 







.0^ » 














^ ^^ 
























:» ■^^ A* 'i 



'•*\o^..<..^ 



















%<^' 



V. .0°*..;.;^^ ./\-ja^^\ oor-.i^N^^. 























